Seven Years
by Medium Cris
Summary: As a child Jaune was saved by the leader of the Faunus Rebellion. He raised him as his own, but passed away when Jaune was only ten. Ever since Jaune has been alone. He grew up fast and hard, but when Ozpin decides he wants him in Beacon, he doesn't give him a choice. Now he'll have to fight enemies old and new while still trying to uphold his ideals.
1. An Unwanted Guest

**Disclaimer** :

I don't own jack. Or RWBY either.

 **Story:**

The name's Jaune, and I've had a long week. I had to hike nearly a hundred miles to my last job in well under two days to beat the Grimm to Bump-in-the-Road-Ville, population twenty. Once I'd got there I'd had to fight a small horde of lesser Grimm running on no sleep. And already having been forced to use up a sizable portion of my aura just to get their in time. And _then_ the grateful populace didn't even have any beer. What the hell.

Still, I did take jobs to help people, not to get alcohol. And I did eventually get some shut eye, and they did gave me a rucksack full of food for my trouble. It was a pittance for the work, but just because they didn't have money didn't mean they didn't need or deserve help.

"But seriously, would one drink have been too much to ask?" I grumbled to myself as I trekked through the forest to my home. The plain gray plate armor I wore moved with barely a whisper in the afternoon sunlight. It certainly should be quiet; it certainly took enough time and effort to make.

I shortly caught sight of my front door; a slab of heavy dark wood that matched my furniture, set into the foot of a mountain. It was the only place for miles around, making shopping trips a pain, but I never had to worry about noisy neighbors. I activated my semblance for a brief moment, making a temporary key out of my aura. Making a permanent key with was well with in my semblance's ability, but permanent creations took a lot more time and effort, and they could be stolen or misplaced. I lived alone and really didn't need any surprise visitors; a lot of people in Menagerie don't take kindly to humans after all.

I fumbled with the door for a bit before the key slid home. I opened the door and then knocked some of the travel dust from my sabatons and greaves before stepping inside on to the smooth stone floor of my den. I was looking forward to a hot bath, a cold beer, and a warm bed.

Or I was, until I noticed my surprise visitor.

The gray haired bastard was relaxing in my favorite chair, one hand resting on a cane, the other lifting a mug up for a sip. It was hard to tell with him seated but he must have been at least as tall as I am. He wore a dark green suit topped off with a lighter green cravat, and had a cross necklace draped over it. On the bridge of his nose was a set of dark spectacles, and oddly for somebody in Menagerie, I couldn't see any distinctive Faunus traits. Though I couldn't say much about that. I was a human myself after all. But I _could_ say quite a lot about the fact the man seemed to be waiting, patiently, and at perfect ease in _my_ home.

Well, I wasn't sure how the guy found out where I lived. I wasn't sure how the geezer got in. I wasn't sure why he had broken in to my home; the only things of value I owned were some old books and a grand piano, and those aren't the sort of things you can easily sell off. I was forced into the unattractive conclusion that the guy wasn't here to sell me cookies. But one thing I did know was how my unwanted guest was how he would be leaving: on his ass.

I gave the infuriatingly calm intruder a blank look. Time to put him off balance. I shrugged the pack off of my shoulders to rest on the wall by the door and raised my voice, focusing in on the cross he wore, "Aren't I little too old to be in a priest's strike zone?"

The guy's eyes widened a bit at that. It was momentary thing, but momentary surprises were all that I had ever needed. I grasped the fraction of a second the old man took to be surprised to create a spear with my semblance, take a pair of paces to bring the old man in range, and thrust it at the seated man's gut.

He moved more like lightning than a surprised old man. In the time it took me to take my second step he dropped the mug, grasped the back of the chair with his newly freed hand, flipped out of and behind my chair, then proceeded to use it to bat away my strike. He finished the maneuver by lobbing the heavy wooden chair at my head. I dodged by a hair's breadth, ducking below the improvised projectile and wondering how the hell my opponent had managed to move so quickly from such a bad position.

Then I straightened from the duck just in time for the housebreaker to land a straight kick to my chest. Hard. I smashed through my doorway, cracking my head on hard stone as I went through. I hit the ground and rolled a few times before managing to stand up a little woozily, quietly glad I had forgotten to shut my front door, but also regretting the fact that I didn't make a helmet to finish off my suit of armor.

The old guy must have moved in while the chair blocked my sight. Green Suit hits like a runaway bus. It was annoying, but I had to admit I was wrong about how he would be leaving my house. I was the one getting kicked out on my ass.

I watched the newly christened Green Suit placidly walk out of my ruined doorway with new caution. My hands were empty; I must have dropped the spear during my brief flight on Green Suit Airlines. I clutched empty air for an instant before my semblance filled them. My left arm bore a heater shield and my right a cruciform sword. A half dozen barely visible ephemeral javelins hovered around me, only waiting for my aura to make them real.

Green Suit nodded genially and spoke up as he casually strolled out of my home, "That wasn't quite what I was expecting. You're more aggressive than I had thought. Still, I suppose this will work. You're quite fast for your age, Mr. Ebner." The man's cane clicked and he pulled out a slender blade from within it.

I grunted at the mention of the family name my foster father had given me. "Clearly not. Some random geezer managed to out pace me after all."

After I made a weapon, or anything else for that matter, it was simply there. But I could add in a vector as I brought them into the world, and I did so now. Six throwing spears came in to the world speeding through the air, each one targeted either the man or one of his likely angles of escape. I came rushing in behind them, timing it so I would arrive just as the man would be half way through whatever defense he used against the spears.

The man simply let the spears aimed at his escape routes pass him by, blocked all three I shot at his person, and then parried the diagonal swipe I made with my sword. Then he riposted with a swing of the empty scabbard his blade had previously occupied. I caught it on my shield, and even then I felt the strength he had put behind it. I slid black for at least a yard, my heels digging furrows in the ground as I went.

Okay. Whoever Green Suit was, he was better than me. A lot better than me. If I wanted to survive this I was going to have to try something risky. I started boosting.

Boosting is a manner of using aura. Every hunter's aura strengthened them, but it wouldn't normally allow them to increase their abilities beyond what their aura could protect them from. Boost did. It's user's aura would heal the damage it inflicted almost immediately. But it was exhausting; the increased ability and the healing both required a respectable amount of aura to work.

We traded a few blows, our blades meeting each other or occasionally being deflected by my shield or his sheath. Then I was abruptly riding high on the wave of boost. My physical abilities more than tripled half way through a horizontal backhand with my sword. My muscles and tendons tore all along my arm and back; and my shoulder dislocated from the immense force I put into that single blow.

Green suit managed a clumsy block in spite of his surprise and my speed, but my strike smashed though it and sent him flying back a a fistful of yard into a tree. I rushed forward as my aura popped my arm back into it's socket, trying to press my advantage before he recovered. The man seemed oddly pleased as he went flying, "Well done Mr. Ebner! I honestly can't remember the last time someone as young as you managed to strike me."

After that Green Suit proved once again he was on another level. He must know how to boost too, or else was holding back so much it wasn't even funny; I barely noted a blur before I went sailing _through_ a hardy oak tree before another arrested my flight. Gods above, I was glad for my armor at that point. Less so for the bruises, but that was still a great deal better than broken bones. I got back to my feet in a flash, but Green Suit was simply there before me as if he hadn't bothered crossing the distance between us.

I felt a scowl darken my face. Okay. I guess boosting wasn't enough on it's own. I started using the basics of slide as well. Slide was much more sedate than boost. It was simply moving the aura in your body without letting it leave your body. It would effectively let you make yourself heavier, lighter, or even allow a master to move them self without twitching a single muscle.

I used slide to pull me down. Had I been standing on a scale it would have broke beneath my feet, leaving me the target of fat jokes for a thousand years. Let's see this bastard rag doll me now.

I had to start moving before the man did; he was that much faster than me. I started shifting my sword and shield into positions that left tiny holes in my defense. He immediately attacked them, but I was able to tell more or less where his weapons would be. It let me keep up with him, barely, but I couldn't keep it up forever.

The stalemate didn't last long. His blade knocked mine from my hand, but I replaced it instantly. My shield caught his sword immediately afterward and I pushed forward, driving the man away from me with a shield bash. The man was content to let me catch me breath. That was a mistake.

I lifted my sword, pointing it straight up, like I was threatening the sky. More ephemeral weapons formed around me. This time it wasn't half a dozen, nor was it just spears. This time hundreds of weapons formed; spears, knives, axes, hammers, everything I could think of that was the least bit aerodynamic. I could only form them ten or so at a time, but Green Suit waited obligingly. The man started forward only after half minute or so had passed. I responded by lowering my raised sword, and a wall of blades and bludgeons shot forward to meet him.

Avoiding so many attacks in so short a time should have been impossible. I would have been forced to take dozens of hits had I been forced to meet the same assault. It probably would have killed me in fact. Green Suit evidently didn't subscribe to the same ideas of impossible as I did though.

He swayed out of the path of a few dozen weapons on his way towards me, barely avoiding them. The ones he couldn't dodge he blocked. He must have been forced to block at least fifty more weapons in the span of a finely split second, blade flitting and the scabbard revealed it's self to be a firearm, barking repeatedly, knocking more of my attacks away from him. If it took Green Suit any effort I didn't see it. It took him a half a breath tops to reach me and he proceeded to strike me half a dozen times despite my darting blades and my shield. Then once again, he kicked me.

Weighing as much as a small car evidently didn't mean much to Green Suit. I smashed into the same damn tree again, and I didn't have time to do a single thing before he hit me again. And again. And again. And again.

It was pretty disorientating all things considered. I involuntarily let go of both boost and slide. I lost track of things for a while, punctuated only with heavy impacts. I couldn't even tell the difference between when the old man hit me from when he hit me into something. Pathetic.

I don't know how long that went on, but I eventually came to. My vision gradually focused and I noticed two things: A sword point above my right eye and a gun barrel above my left. I considered renewing my attack, but I ended up holding still. He'd walked through my best like it was nothing. And after my assault and the beating he laid down on me I wasn't capable of bringing even a quarter as much strength to bear. It was a surrender, but what else could I do but die?

I heard Green Suit address me though I couldn't see past the weapons pointed at me, "Are you willing to converse with me now Mr. Ebner?"

I glared up at that, though I couldn't see him past his weaponry. "I don't see I have much choice."

I was sulking, and it should have been beneath me, but I couldn't help it. I'd been a professional hunter for seven years, and never had I been so badly outclassed. Even when my foster father first passed away and I first started hunting as a ten year old, and had been forced to rely entirely on tricks, tactics, and my semblance to survive even lesser Grimm, I hadn't ever been so thoroughly dominated. Only when my dad was still alive had I known something was completely beyond my ability to fight.

Amusement touched Green Suit's voice. "You could always try to to get out of this predicament. I don't see how you could mind you, but you can try."

I grunted, surly. "I'll pass. I know when I've been bested."

"Then why don't we head inside for a drink?" My glare deepened. Asshole, offering me my own stuff like it's his. And there was nothing I could realistically do about it. I followed him into my own house, trying to ignore the wreckage of my favorite chair and my thoroughly ruined doorway. I comforted myself that at least my piano and books hadn't been damaged. I could make a chair, though it was a pain. I didn't know enough about pianos to make one of them though.

I limped my way past Green Suit, who had taken another seat, into my kitchen, and didn't bother asking him what he wanted to drink. There was a pot of coffee already brewed after all, and I didn't even own a coffee pot. I gabbed a mug out of a cupboard and poured him a cup.

It was an inference that he wanted coffee, but I didn't ask him if he wanted milk or sugar because I was feeling petty. Hey, you get your face beaten into the ground by someone who broke into your house and see if _you're_ feeling up to being a gracious host afterwards. Being rude wasn't terribly smart I'll admit, but at this point I doubted he'd try to finish me off before he got whatever it was that he wanted from me.

I grabbed myself a beer from my ice box and wandered back into my den. I handed him the coffee and found another unbroken chair to sit in myself. He took a sip from the mug I'd handed him without any sign of displeasure. So much for the cheap dig.

He spoke as I took the first pull from my bottle. "Aren't you underage for that sort of beverage?"

I was seventeen, so yes I was underage. But, hell I've been risking my life twice a week since I was ten just to put food on my table. And the institution never helped me take care of myself, so I'll drink whatever I want thank you very much. So I shot back without a pause, "Aren't you too old to be my dad?"

"Touche."

We simply looked at one another for a few minutes after that. He quirked an eyebrow at me, and I sighed, breaking the silence. "So, I guess you're not here to kill me like I first assumed. Which begs the question: why did you track down where I live and proceed to break inside my house?"

"I heard rumors of a child hunter in Menagerie, working hard, changing others opinions about humans. I wanted to meet this man myself, and extend an offer to him."

His first sentence was true at the very least. I was fairly well known in Menagerie these days, and what was at first simply a way to get food and other necessities became a political statement: Not all humans were evil. Not all Humans meant harm. Some even wanted to help.

Thanks in part to my efforts humans were regarded with suspicion instead of outright hostility. Seven years ago if somebody found out I was a human I could expect a lynch mob to form. On a few occasions that's exactly what happened in fact. It was why I had to start hunting instead of going to an orphanage. Now though I was seen as something almost precious in Menagerie.

I... could have blamed for them for their ignorance I guess, but what would have been the point? That wouldn't have helped anybody. Besides, the very first humans I met were real pieces of work. If slavers had been the only examples of humanity I'd run into I might have shared the common opinion on humans.

It had never stopped me from defending myself or anybody else though. And it never would. Race doesn't matter, only intents and actions, and only those of the individual in question.

I replied, tiredly. Was this join or die offer? "And that would be?" He hadn't answered about the break in, but I didn't see a point in chasing the answer. Maybe he just wanted to instigate a fight?

"I am Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy for hunters in training. My school is based in Vale, and I wanted to extend an invitation to enroll in my academy on a full scholarship to this extraordinary individual."

"You got here a little late then. I've been hunting for seven years already after all. And a lot of people around here need me. Hunters are in short supply out here in Menagerie."

He smiled then, as if I had conceded a point. "I have offered the assistance of Vale's hunters and my own academy's hunters to assist Menagerie's beleaguered forces. Always they refused our help, but I never had the endorsement of a well respected citizen of Menagerie either. If you accept my offer I will offer our aid once again to Menagerie, and backed by your word we will be able to help many more people than you could alone. Unless you can be in a hundred places at once, and have a private airship for travel?"

Now I nodded, actually conceding the point. I'd learned years ago and miles away that despite my strength I couldn't be in more than one place at a time. Nor could I always travel fast enough to get there in time. And sometimes people died because of that. I clenched my fists at ugly memories, and only the dregs of my exhausted aura kept them from drawing blood.

Sometimes a lot of people died because of that.

Okay, Jaune. Time to stop acting like a child. I took a deep but shaky breath, and my anger died as it left me. I took another and shame followed it. Neither had a place here, around Ozpin. The man was uncanny; I needed my wits about me. "Okay. But why do you want me in particular?"

He nodded to me now, and then gave me a small smile over his cup. "Three reasons: first, you have become a statement to the Faunus. Whatever you think Jaune Ebner, people around the world see you as a hero who fights for the sake of others no matter their creed or race." I grimaced at that. It was true technically. But he wasn't finished yet, "My academy's stance mirrors your own, and having you join would lend credence to that. Second, despite your impressive skill level and you experience hunting, you still have much to learn. And I have much to teach. Third, your father Dietrich was well known to me. We were never friends, but we did see eye to eye on many issues. I doubt he would have wanted you to be as isolated as you are. "

Words came out of my mouth before I could stop them, cold as a glacier's heart. "Then he shouldn't have died."

My fists balled up again. What the hell was wrong with me today? I unclenched my hands while Ozpin looked at me levelly, saying nothing, his amusement gone. He was right. My father had told me that directly even, something about it being unhealthy to grow alone, and he had probably been right too.

Ozpin gave me the time I needed to get my self back under control, and I was grateful. The one sided beat down had been a test. And it looked like I passed. I contemplated if I could say the same about our conversation. I doubted it.

I nodded again, slowly, thoughtfully this time. The pros outweighed the cons. "Alright Professor. You have a deal."

Ozpin smiled. And that was how I found myself on my way to Beacon.

 **Notes:**

This is my first foray into fan fiction, the first person perspective, fight scenes, and writing for fun instead of profit. I'd appreciate it if you dropped me line, tell me what I did right, what I did wrong and how I can improve. Questions and comments are welcome as well of course.

Not all chapters are going to be as action heavy as this one, but there will be more. Not everything in RWBY is about fighting and not everything in this fic will be either. I'm going to try to strike a balance.

Jaune Ebner is in fact Jaune Arc, not an OC, I promise. His name was changed via adoption, and why he was adopted is plot relevant and will be revealed in the future.

If you're looking for a story that has Jaune stomping all over everything, you'll not find it here. And if you're expecting to have everything stomp on him, well, you won't find that here either. I like my protagonists strong and antagonists even stronger.

Pairing(s) are undecided.


	2. New Routine, New Arrivals

**Disclaimer:**

I still don't own RWBY. If I did, I'd still probably write a fic just to mess with my fan's heads.

 **Story:**

It wasn't long after my confrontation with Ozpin before I arrived at Beacon.

I didn't own very many things so packing didn't take more than an hour. After that I stopped by my father's grave to pay my respects and made a few calls to start setting up for the new influx of hunters. The only thing that took some finagling was getting my piano on the airship, but we were still on our way to Vale not long after sunset.

I've never had the dosh to actually fly anywhere before and I was, if not excited, at least in the same area code as excited. That didn't last long.

The trip itself was brief but managed to pack a lot of suck into a short time frame. Ozpin, while surprisingly genial and accommodating, now that he had what he wanted at least, was still on my list for myriad reasons. So I couldn't enjoy the company. On top of that it turns out I get airsick quite easily; refraining from making a display of everything I'd had to eat in the last twenty-four hours required a steady drain of my aura. As I was still low from the clobbering Ozpin had laid on me earlier, I got to choose between patching up my much abused body or keeping my food down. Ultimately I decided my dignity was more important than healing the many, many, minor injuries I had received. So I got to enjoy all of the bumps and bruises I'd collected for the whole trip, complemented by thrilling undertones of exhaustion and nausea. I never knew fourteen hours could take so long.

I'd arrived two weeks before the rest of the first years came in for initiation. This was due to the fact that if I didn't leave with Ozpin I wouldn't have had any way to actually get to Vale. As it was the dorm they'd put me in would likely be the same one I'd dwell in for the next four years, and I was okay with that for the most part.

It wasn't anything terribly fancy: four bedrooms and a bathroom linked to a common area with an attached kitchen. Evidently teams composed entirely of a single sex didn't get the individual rooms, but outcry from parents had netted me a little more room and privacy than I might otherwise have gotten. True, it was much smaller than the renovated cave I'd called home. But it also had running water and electricity, so in my opinion that particular trade off was in my favor. I might change my tune once I had roommates but for now it was pretty nice.

My only complaint was that though I had room for my small library in my bedroom, there wasn't enough room for my piano. Luckily Beacon had a small music room I could store and play it in so even that wasn't too bad.

Well. I did have a couple more.

I just didn't know what to do with myself at first. Always there had been something to do before: lives to save, food to gather, miles to travel, items to build or repair. But after the first few confusing days I settled into a routine.

I'd get up in the morning and shave with a quickly created straight razor. (I'm fairly sure I wouldn't have a face left if it wasn't for my aura, but you just can't get a closer shave.) Afterwards I'd make myself breakfast. Then I'd hit the gym followed with some good old fashioned running (while ignoring what my upperclassman no doubt believed to be covert glances and whispers). Then I'd do some exorcises with my aura and semblance. Following that was a shower, and a change of clothes followed by lunch. A little later would be a trip to the library where I would check out a book or two. Next up was a little piano time. Finally I'd head back to my dorm to read the books I'd found, eat dinner and go to bed. Ad nauseam.

Second was that Ozpin had forbade from leaving Beacon's campus until I had finished initiation. Then he had made sure I'd known exactly what would happen if I did, and while _that_ pissed me off to no end I also knew he could back it up. In fact, I probably would've been quite happy to stay at Beacon without traveling to Vale at all had he not told me I had to.

But. He only mentioned going into Vale City. I guess the idea that I would climb down a cliff face to fight Grimm hadn't occurred to him. Normally I wouldn't have, but Ozpin is an ass and I take malicious glee in subverting his orders. This close to a large city there wasn't anything too difficult, but it let me keep my skills sharp at least. And offered me a little excitement.

Two weeks after I came to Beacon the other first years started to arrive. The day they came in I was meandering around campus, more or less ignoring the new crowd. I was simply killing time before orientation started when I heard an explosion.

My first reflex was to head toward it. Weird, I know, but look at this way: If I didn't take care of whatever the problem was then somebody else would be forced to deal with it. Knowing my luck, they'd get it wrong and it would proceed to snowball into the Grimmpocalypse. And hey, who knew. Maybe it would be interesting.

It didn't take me long to get there, but it looked like all the exciting stuff had already finished happening. Damn. All that was left at the scene was a small crater with an even smaller girl beside it. As I approached she collapsed onto her knees and whimpered, "Welcome to Beacon."

I eyed the slip of girl. She had pale skin and hair so dark a red it was almost black. She wore a dark dress with red highlights, black leggings, a bright red cloak, and a sensible pair of boots that looked perfect for stomping mud holes into Grimm. On her back mostly concealed by her cloak was a rather large metallic object, which was probably her weapon collapsed down for travel. And though I couldn't see her face from where I was standing, her body language spoke of soul crushing despair.

I started to feel a little guilty about the addendum on my reason for investigating. Besides, it was hard to walk away from someone looking so miserable. I'm not much of a people person but I owed it to the poor thing to at least give it a shot.

I continued my way to her. As her face came into view I felt even worse. She had the sort of face one would expect to see on the last puppy of a litter left on a street corner in a box labeled 'free puppies'. If the puppy had just been kicked. And it had started raining.

I replaced my hybrid frown of concern and guilt with the most sympathetic smile I could muster. "Rough day?" I asked, extending a hand to help her up.

I knew for a fact that I was better at sneers, smirks, and snarls than smiles, but Puppy Girl's face transformed as she grasped my hand. Her hopeful smile would have made you think I had just saved her life before giving her a winged unicorn pony and a lifetime supply of chocolate. Maybe my smile wasn't so bad after all?

"You could say that." she began, voice just as full of hope as the rest of her. "My name is Ruby. Thanks for the help..."

"Jaune." I supplied as I finished helping Ruby to her feet. She dusted herself off while I struggled to think of a topic of conversation. My social skills, as I mentioned before, have never been very good outside of insults, reports, sarcasm and banter. Luckily she helped me out herself.

"I didn't see you on the airship. Are you a second year maybe?"

I was relieved. I waved a hand dismissively. " Naw. I'm a first year. I just arrived a couple weeks early."

"Isn't that against the rules?"

I shrugged. People and their rules. I sometimes think people wouldn't be able to even breathe without a piece of ordinance to govern it. "Maybe?"

We walked more or less aimlessly. I wondered where she was headed. The cafeteria maybe? I was fine with the quiet that had descended after my last answer, but I guess Ruby wasn't.

"So... I've got this thing!" She flourished the metal object I'd spotted before and it unfolded into a scythe bigger than the girl that wielded it.

I let out an impressed whistle. It wasn't everyday I saw somebody handle a weapon larger than they are so casually. She must be stronger than she looks. "Very nice. I've never seen anybody wield a scythe before."

She was downright enthusiastic about this topic. Seems like I've met a weapon fanatic. Well, it wasn't like I hated weaponry myself. "She's also customizable high impact sniper rifle! Her name is Crescent Rose. I made her myself." Some kind of gun, was it? I haven't found a way to manufacture a decent propellant with my semblance yet, and was too broke to afford a steady dust supply, so I haven't bothered learning much about firearms.

She looked over at me once she was done clipping her scythe on to her back again, still shining with maternal pride. "So what weapon do you have?"

I couldn't help teasing her a bit. "I don't have one."

Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped open, and she stopped walking. I looked over my shoulder at her and raised a single eyebrow. Ah, that's the stuff.

It took a while but she finally shrieked something out. "How do you even fight!?"

"My semblance." I was just being smug now.

"And what," She pouted, "is your semblance?"

"I call it Forge. It allows me to create and alter matter." I failed to mention my semblance's limits, such as how difficult and time consuming making something permanent or altering anything at all was, or how I couldn't make living beings. I'm not predisposed to telling people my weaknesses and limitations. That was one bad habit I'd had beaten out of me long ago. Literally.

"Matter?"

"It's what everything is made out of. The most basic building block in the world." Ruby still looked a little confused, so I spread my arms wide in a theatric gesture. My semblance immediately formed a ring of weapons around us.

A massive war maul. A heavy saber. A slender rapier. A glittering spear. All these and more surrounded us. To complete my show I made a scythe that looked remarkably like Crescent Rose form slung over my shoulder. I would have needed a detailed schematic and an hour to study it to make a fully functional copy, but it _looked_ the same. Nor did I have any idea how to use a scythe, but I thought it was a nice touch nonetheless. I was definitely, shamelessly, showboating at that point, but hey. It was fun.

Her jaw dropped again. She worked it furiously for a while without sound. I smiled at her. "Talking goes a little more smoothly when you breathe Ruby."

She finally took a breath and managed to respond with stars twinkling in her eyes. "That is the coolest semblance! The coolest. I kind of wish I had it." Seems like I hit the mark. She was definitely a weapon nut.

I was gratified by her enthusiasm. "It _is_ pretty cool." I dismissed the dozen weapons I'd made, and they faded back into aura as we resumed walking.

"So, Jaune. Um. I was kind of wondering... why you helped me back there. Not that I'm not grateful! Just uh, curious."

I've heard this one before. Many times. I scratched the side of my jaw before responding more or less the same as I always do. "I helped because I thought I could. There's more than enough darkness in the world, so if I have an opportunity to brighten somebody's day I will."

I delivered the words casually, but they were the bedrock I'd built my life on. It took me years to realize that faunus were different than humans, and that they hated each other for those tiny dissimilarities. So I asked my father why he'd adopted me, given that I was very much a human and he was most certainly a faunus. Those words were what my father gave me in answer. Those words and the plain kindness behind them saved me. For years they were all that kept me from becoming a monster that abused his power to hurt others simply because he hurt. Eventually I started to mature enough to put thought into my actions, to decide what was right from wrong myself, but when I started I was simply a desperate ten year old boy. And kids, especially kids frantically trying to avoid starving to death, are not well equipped for introspection.

"I feel the same way." Ruby's words brought me back from my inner monologue and I noticed her giving me a smile. One I had never seen before; something gentle and warm that made me feel happy but also horribly uncomfortable. I'd already decided I liked the cute puppy girl, but I felt my blood rushing to my face which was completely unacceptable.

So I looked away and manfully ignored my embarrassment. I coughed then, just to give me something to do while I reached desperately for a topic change. "So. Where are we headed? The cafeteria?"

"I thought they were holding orientation in the auditorium?" She said, that odd smile thankfully fading into something merely bright and mildly confused instead of discomfiting. Well, at least I managed to cheer her up right?

"It is, but we've been heading in the wrong direction. I figured you were hungry or something," I pointed to a set of heavy double doors, "because the cafeteria is right there. Was I wrong?"

"I was following you!" And now she looked panicky. Great job Jaune.

OK, I can still salvage this. "Calm down Ruby, we still have enough time. Just keep following me and I'll get us there."

I smirked to show I was just messing with her before I continued. "It's a good thing one of us knows where we're going."

She glared at me and swatted at my arm playfully, which was the physical equivalent of saying 'I give up'. Ha. One point for Jaune. I chuckled as I led her to the auditorium. "So, what was up with the explosion? Did you see what happened?"

It was evidently her turn to blush now. Her pale cheeks turned red amazingly quickly, though I pretended not to notice. She didn't mention my blush so it would have been churlish of me to note hers. "It was an accident! I accidentally bumped into this crabby girl and..." I think she used the word accident or one of it's derivatives twenty-eight times, though I could have lost count once her mouth hit top speed. And though her words started to run together by the end of her story, I still managed to get most of it.

I opened the door to the auditorium for her as she finished up her tale because my late father didn't raise a barbarian. Mind you I probably am a barbarian _now_ , but the basics of courtly behavior were instilled into me at a formative age.

"So basically, some jerk blew you up with improperly sealed dust before proceeding to yell at you for it? Somebody needs to learn about some important concepts. Like responsibility, manners, forgiveness, and how not to be a jackass." I was outraged by this person I had never met. Ruby was adorable. She was kind of a dork too, I'll admit, though I personally I can't throw stones on that last count. Besides, it was part of her charm damn it! Whoever blew up Ruby must have Ozpin levels of bastard flowing through her veins.

"I know right!? I was just trying to say sorry."

We entered the auditorium and walked into a crowd. Ugh. I hate crowds. They make it hard to notice things sneaking up on you.

Shortly after we entered the hall a voice cut through the noise of the crowd we were in. "Ruby! Over here! I saved you a seat!" I honed in on the voice and though I couldn't see her well through the crowd, I saw saw a curvaceous woman wearing what looked like a skimpy set of brown riding leathers waving. And she had extremely long blonde hair. Seriously, it looked amazing, but who had the time for upkeep on something like that? But I'm digressing.

"That's my big sister. I'll introduce you guys later Jaune. I'll talk to you after the ceremony!" Before I could respond Ruby was already lost in the crowd. That was kind of abrupt. Hopefully it wasn't anything I said.

Not much I can do about it now. I let out a sigh. "Guess it's time I found myself a seat as well."

 **Notes:**

First off is a shout to the people who took time out of their life to shoot me a review. I really appreciate it and I find it easier to get into my writing mindset when I read them.

Writing for Ruby is more fun than I thought it would be. She's so excitable and naive. It makes her a wonderful foil for Jaune.

I do apologize for how close this runs with canon, but Jaune doesn't have an outgoing personality. If he doesn't think somebody needs help he simply won't approach them. And it gave a great opportunity to expand on Jaune's semblance and personality.

In other news, I'm probably going to start shifting viewpoints occasionally; starting either next chapter or the one after. Jaune will still be the star of the show, but he's far from the only interesting character. One of the future story arcs I have planned will be all but impossible if it's told from entirely from Jaune's POV as well. We also won't see much of the glossing over that has begun the last couple chapters for a while.

So my readers, what would you prefer? Shorter chapters with faster updates or longer ones with slower updates? This chapter was originally going to keep going until the end of the day, or possibly even until the very beginning of initiation, but I was worried about boring people with a massive tl;dr wall of text. I'm still trying to find my pace. Even if you don't have a preference, I'd like to know.


	3. Fame and- Friends?

**Disclaimer:**

I still don't own RWBY.

 **Story:**

I looked around for a few minutes, but each time I saw an open seat somebody was already in route. And closer than me too, so poaching their chair wasn't an option. Ozpin's speech was set to start soon, and looking around I was the only student still lacking a chair.

Oh well. It wasn't the end of the world or anything. Standing in the back, leaning against the wall, and glaring at Ozpin was a pretty good plan as far as I was concerned. I let out a sigh as I walked towards the back, despite my satisfaction with my plan. I really hoped I didn't offend Ruby. I liked the girl in spite of myself. She was oddly non-threatening for a hunter in training, reminding me more of a small, fuzzy, woodland creature than a trained killer, and the dichotomy amused me with no end in sight. Nothing to be done for it now though.

Before I finished my route a voice cut through the din, "Excuse me, do you not have a seat? This one is free." I turned toward the voice, trying to shuck out of my less than pleasant thoughts on the Ruby situation. I took in the sight of a girl with long red hair kept in a pony tail. She had bright green eyes, pale skin (though less so than Ruby's) was only a little shorter than me, and built like one of the famous Mistralian statues: tall, muscular, strong, but still having plenty of feminine softness to her frame. She wore a complicated ensemble of red, gold and brown, and while I'm sure that every piece had a name I didn't know them. The gold headdress that crowned her head had small chains looping around her ears before reconnecting with the tiara though, and that drew my attention. I wondered if the crystals it bore were dust or emeralds. I could always ask later I suppose. She moved outwards from the second seat in the row, gesturing towards the inner one she had just vacated with a welcoming smile.

"Thanks," I began before the awkward grateful smile on my face slid off of it. I saw some ass hat with a green Mohawk wearing not entirely clean leathers sitting across the empty seat she had just left. He was starting to bend at the waist, trying to look up her skirt. So that's why she got up, to put me in between her and the ass hat.

I don't have much practice smiling, but I have a good sneer that I used with absolutely depressing frequency. It was a face that said, 'Please, give me an excuse; I will enjoy beating you into a mushy red pulp'. My voice came out cold as a river in winter when I continued speaking. "Hey, slime ball, that's not her face."

He stopped bending and looked at me then, a belligerent set to his features before his eyes met mine. He was a little on the small side, and in comparison to me he was downright tiny. I'm a couple inches over six feet and well over two hundred pounds of exercise freak. Running cross country marathons in a hundred pound suit of metal with a pack full of supplies on my back for the last seven years, and more recently climbing up and down a cliff face to fight Grimm in fore-mentioned hundred pound armor, has given me a pretty intimidating physique. He didn't quite panic, but he sure as hell stopped trying to catch a peek. I grunted at him, still presenting thoroughly hostile body language, and said, "Don't you have some friends, over there?" I gestured with my chin in a random direction, and he glared at me sullenly for a moment before speaking up himself, "Yeah. Didn't see 'im there. Thanks. See you around, Pyrrha."

The redhead, Pyrrha I assume, took a few more steps out, giving him a wide berth, before shooting me a apologetic smile while he walked away. "Thank you, and I am sorry for dragging you into my problems, but I wasn't sure how to handle his attention without resorting to violence."

"It was nothing." Then I wiggled my eyebrows at her. "Try screaming 'pervert' next time. Half the people in the crowd would've descended on the creep."

She giggled, "I will have to try that next time then." She made a gesture at the now vacant seats, "You do need a chair though, do you not?"

I nodded, back to rusty smiles again as I settled in. "Yes, and thanks again for the seat. Name's Jaune."

Pyrrha went to respond, but Ozpin took his place on his stage and began his speech. If you can call it that. "I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of others. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose... direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Ozpin is absolute balls at speeches, so I couldn't have stopped my sarcasm if I'd tried. Not that I would have mind you, because I kind of hate the guy. "Wow," I began, my voice dripping enough sarcasm to drown in, "that was the most fantastic speech I've ever heard. I am so glad I have this man to guide me through my wayward youth."

I was surprised when I heard Pyrrha add to the small lake of snark I'd left on the floor. "Truly, I have never felt so inspired in my life."

I shot her a grin, bright and honest. "I think we'll get along just fine."

She reddened a bit at that for some reason. "I- did not mean to let that slip out."

I looked up at the ceiling, giving her time to compose herself while I spoke. "Most people consider a sense of humor a plus you know. It's not something anyone should be embarrassed of." After a minute or so I turned back to her, smiling warmly.

She returned my smile, though hers was certainly much better than mine. "I think we'll get along as well, Jaune."  
"Hey, I don't think I got your name earlier. I couldn't quite catch it over Ozpin's blathering."

Her smile that seemed so bright a moment ago dimmed. Did she actually like Ozpin or something? I had difficulty processing the thought.

"I am Pyrrha Nikos." She looked at me searchingly, but I guess she didn't see whatever adverse reaction she had been expecting. Maybe she had a dark and troubled past, or her parents were infamous? She looked relieved to see my puzzled mug.

I brushed away my confusion. "A pleasure to meet you Pyrrha."

After that she gave me a smile. It was brighter, more cheerful, more _real_ than the ones I'd seen from her so far. It made me feel like I'd just done something amazing, though I had no idea what. I must be better at with words than I believed, or, more likely, I was getting a truly massive case of beginner's luck. Either way, I'd take it. "The pleasure is mine Jaune."

I've always enjoyed making others happy, and though I wasn't sure what I'd done in this case, I was still on cloud nine when Pyrrha spoke again. "So Jaune, where are you from? I don't recognize your accent."

"I'm out from middle of nowhere Menagerie myself. How about you?"

"Mistral City." She looked at my quiet fulfillment, and her smile intensified. I for the first time noticed goosebumps on her arms. "I'm guessing it's a little cooler down here than it is up in Mistral, huh?"

Her smile turned into rueful chuckle. "Indeed. I have been finding myself wishing I had taken note of the temperature difference when I packed my clothing. I have been finding myself underdressed. But you mentioned Menagerie? Are you a faunus then? If you are worried, then be assured I do not judge others based on such petty differences."

I decided I liked this girl. She had a good head on her shoulders, which was well complemented by her dry wit. "No, I'm human. I've met plenty of faunus back home though."

She looked at me queerly. "Jaune, what did you say your last name was?"

"I didn't say it, but it's Ebner. Jaune Ebner, at your service." I swept into a courtly bow, or would have if we weren't still seated. So I stood up instead. "Say, why don't I give you a short tour of campus? I've been here a couple of weeks already, so I can at least show you how to get around."

"That sounds grand."

We went outside and I started pointing out the basics. Cafeteria, classrooms, dorms, library, gym and so on while she wore a complicated expression.

"Jaune."

I stopped, halfway through pointing out a sequestered quad I'd stumbled upon yesterday that made a good lunch spot. "Pyrrha?"

"Has anybody ever called you the Grey Knight, the Somber Swordsman, or the Thousand Arms Master?"

I blinked, nonplussed. "Yes. Why?"

"I have heard of a child hunter operating out of Menagerie, wielding weapons made of aura. If I recall correctly his name was Jaune Ebner."

I shrugged. "That is my job, semblance, and name respectively."

"There have been several articles about him, that is to say you, lately Jaune. Though there are very few pictures, and what photos they have are of you wearing your armor."

"I'm not a big fan of the monikers to be honest. And reporters have a tendency to ask awfully intrusive questions, so I don't tend to hang around them." I grimaced. Seriously, Somber Swordsman? Lame. Misleading too; not only was I much better as an archer than as a swordsman, I was also more sarcastic than somber. Grey Knight made me sound like I was an ancient geezer instead of a strapping young man of seventeen, and while I'm pretty damn good with quite a few weapons I'd hardly say I'd mastered any of them, let alone a thousand of them. It's hard to practice when your only partners will happily kill you if you mess up after all. The names people give me, I swear...

Her body language changed then and I found her manner disconcerting. It's been a long time since somebody has looked at me with sympathy. I shook it off pretty quickly though. Or I did once she started smiling again at least. "Jaune, have you put any thought into who you wanted to form a team with?"

No, I hadn't, but you don't get far in life if you just go around admitting you don't think. I adopted a thinking pose: head facing the sky and the index finger of my right hand tapping my chin. "I don't really know anybody at Beacon, but I did meet a girl today. A redhead named Pyrrha- she made a pretty good first impression; seems friendly, funny, and smart too. I don't know her well, but I think I'd like to. How about you?"

Pyrrha's smile became more genuinely cheerful after that. "Hmm, well, I don't know anybody at Beacon either, but I did meet a boy today. A blonde named Jaune- he made a pretty good first impression; amiable, jocular, and intelligent too. I don't know him well, but I think that I would like to."

I looked at her and rose a single eyebrow. "Imitation", I drawled, " is the most irritating form of flattery."

She rubbed the back of her neck bashfully. "I'm sorry! It is just that it was worth copying."

She let a peal of melodic laughter then, and I found it difficult to keep up my pretense of irritation; her joy was contagious. I let out an earthy chuckle in compliment. "Well, I'm not sure how teams are decided, but if it's up to us we'll partner up. How about it?"

She gave me another smile then; and it was remarkably similar to the one Ruby gave me just a few hours ago. My heart did the same odd lurch and blood rushed to my face once more when I saw the tender expression. Were these smiles something I was going to have to get used to? "That sounds lovely Jaune."

I was still trying to rally when I was saved by the bell, or rather my scroll's ringtone. Imperial March's menacing tones heralded my dread enemy's call: Ozpin. Even though it was him, I was grateful for the distraction. Pyrrha lobbed a query at me. "Imperial March? Are you fond of classical music?"

"Yeah. And, I'm sorry Pyrrha, but it's the headmaster. I've got to take this one."

"That is quite alright Jaune, and I apologize for the distraction. It must be an important matter if he is calling you himself."  
I tapped a button and Ozpin appeared on my screen with his ever present mug of coffee. He spoke First, "Jaune."

"Ozpin."

"I'm merely giving you a notice; you will be expected to sleep in the common area along with the rest of the applicants instead of your room tonight."

I looked at him with wary suspicion. "Why?"

He smirked at me. "Tradition."

I met his words, my face a cool, blank mask. I think I'm going to have to slip something into his coffee at some point. I replied tersely. "Fine."

"Then have a nice night Jaune." He hung up before I could reply. I rubbed my temples for a few seconds. Ozpin is a walking talking headache.

"You don't get along with the headmaster?"

I grunted. "He didn't make a good first impression."

"How so?" She looked at me curiously.

"He broke into my house and proceeded to beat on me like I was cheap drum set." I delivered it in a monotone I could be proud of. It took me long enough to get rid of all the childish petulance.

"Wait, what? Really?" She looked shocked. Well. There's one more student disillusioned with headmaster jackass at least. And it was interesting to see Pyrrha lose her composure. Silver linings, Jaune.

My face became sour. "Yeah. I think it was my entrance exam. The jerk. Enough about that though. I need to head back to my room and pick up a few things." I blinked then, because that was not proper manners. Beacon's campus is pretty big, and it _is_ her first day so she might get lost after all. "Once I escort you back to the hall of course."

She bobbed her head, pony tail stirring in the breeze. "Thank you Jaune."

I waved her thanks away. "It's nothing."

We'd been walking for a couple hours, but the trip back took much less time beings it was a straight path unencumbered with my tour guide-esque explanations and route. On the way, we held a pleasant conversation about music. As it turns out Pyrrha is a massive music nerd, and while I had a good grip on the scene from twenty years back, I've been rather busy (and isolated) in Menagerie so the vast majority of current events have passed by without receiving my notice. I didn't have to feign interest while she spoke of new composers and artists. It took something around a third of an hour to get back, but to me it felt much shorter. "I'll catch you later Pyrrha. Tomorrow, if not tonight. Sweet dreams."

"Good night to you as well, Jaune."

I waved her a farewell over my shoulder while I made my way back to the dorms. I took care of my hygiene, and shucked out of my t-shirt and jeans, slipped on a simple pair of flannel pants, and grabbed a hooded sweatshirt before making my way back. Once I was there I picked up a bedroll, slung it over the same shoulder the sweatshirt was on, then started looking for an uncrowded area to lay down, while keeping an eye open for Pyrrha, and ignoring the glances in my direction with lofty dignity. Who says I can't multitask?

I haven't suffered a serious injury in a while, but sans shirt I still had a few impressive scars showing. Impressive in 'how did you even survive that?' sort of way. They are long stripes of scar tissue running across the front of my torso, and even now that my aura had reduced them to plain white lines, it was still obvious that I've had some very, very close calls. But if they thought a few scars meant I was easy pickings they'd be in for a good old fashioned ass-kicking. They'd learn that there's a bloody good reason that I have scars instead of a grave, and they'd do it the first time I fought. I'd make sure of it.

"Hey, aren't you that guy?" Somebody called out to me. I turned and saw Ruby's sister (and wow they look nothing alike) standing behind me in a t-shirt and shorts combo. Up close I noticed her eye color; a light violet.

"I'm the guy actually. That guy is over there." Face bland, voice dry, I hooked a thumb over my shoulder before I continued on. "And you're Ruby's sister, right?"

"The one, the only, Yang Xiao Long." She flexed her arms as she introduced herself.

I preformed a bow so needlessly elaborate it was more than nearly a mockery, deliberately at odds with her own introduction. "Jaune Ebner, at thy service milady."

She let out an unladylike snort and rolled her eyes at me. "Rubes sure knows how to pick them."

I placed a hand over my heart. "You wound me."

She snorted again. "Well come on sir knight. A damsel in distress awaits."

I ambled next to her, presumably towards Ruby. "So, Yang. I've a question for you."

"Shoot."

"You have the nicest hair I've ever seen, but doesn't it take a lot of upkeep?"

She snapped her fingers. "Well first I..."

I tried to keep up. I really did, but the jargon of cosmetics and hair care products and procedures crushed me. I felt a sudden fear of this woman before me, a fear that she could wield this alien subject matter at me. In between phrases like 'hair root pump' and 'full bloom thermal protection' I managed to get the time frame in dribs and drabs. Something along the lines of an hour a day, separated by her sleep cycle. It seemed like a lot of unnecessary work to me, but if she didn't think it was worth it she wouldn't do it, so whatever she liked I guess. And it _was_ beautiful. Hmm, that's a thought. I wonder if she felt similarly about her hair as I did about music.

Ruby came into sight, and her cheeks turning pink as she laid eyes on me, whilst Yang was finishing up her terror inducing explanation. "Hey Jaune, Yang." I gave Ruby a somewhat shaky smile in return before Yang slapped me on the back as and said, "Jauney boy here definitely has a good _hair_ of eyes Ruby!"

Ruby cradled her head in her hands and groaned, still blushing, but I was forced to snigger at her terrible, terrible joke. I couldn't help it. It was so bad it somehow went around the joke scale, coming out the other side to become funny again. I looked at her incredulously as I did though, because I mean, really? A good _hair_ of eyes? And because I did I saw her dumbfounded expression. "You laughed at my joke?"

Ruby echoed her, "You laughed at her joke?"

"It was a terrible joke." I said.

"But you laughed at it, right? I'm not just hearing things?" Yang spoke, still amazed.

I spoke with amusement still plastered over my face. "Yeah. I never claimed I have a good sense of humor."

Ruby looked at me like I had grown a second head, but Yang shot a sunny grin at me, "Let's get this slumber party started then!"

Ruby looked at Yang reproachfully. "It's kind of awkward with guys around, don't you think?"

"Pfft," Yang looked around, "Afraid you'll get cooties Rubes? Don't you like the scenery?" She proceeded to leer at me cheerfully, giving me a blatant once over. "Nice abs by the way."

I gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks. I got tired of carrying a washboard around."

Yang let out a belly laugh while Ruby's blush returned. Once Yang had finished she said, "See Ruby? Jaune's great. Plus one friend." Friend? I goggled at Ruby and Yang, and lost track of their conversation. The concept was foreign to me. Nobody had ever called me friend, unless the 'you're in the wrong neighborhood friend' sort of thing counts. In which case I have loads of friends, and maybe I should have let them keep a couple of their teeth in light of our friendship.

"Remnant to Jaune, come in Jaune." I shook my head, reverie disrupted by Yang's voice.

"Oh sorry about that. I must be more tired than I thought. What's up?"

Ruby spoke up, "Do enemies count as negative friends?"

"Naw. They count as free training partners." Ruby responded by chucking a dog shaped pillow at my head, which I casually dodged with a smug smirk on my face. Ruby's eyes widened as it sailed past me and shouted, "Look out!"

I looked over my shoulder to see a raven haired woman with bright yellow eyes dressed in traditional Menagerie nightwear along with a black bow. She also had a book in her lap; oh yeah, and a truly spectacularly annoyed facial expression. She held Ruby's pillow between two fingers, like I may have held a used diaper. "Is this yours?"

Ruby squeaked out a ,"Yes!", before hissing at me "Why did you dodge?"

I kept my eyes on the offended newcomer, because hey, you never know how someone will respond to flying dog shaped pillows, as I answered Ruby flippantly. "Because you threw it at me?" I raised my voice to the woman with no name, "Sorry about that. My friend here's a bit of klutz."

She answered in a grudging tone, "Don't worry about it."

Yang walked over to her, dragging Ruby behind her. I followed them a few steps behind. "Hey there! My name's Yang Xiao Long, this is my kid sister Ruby Rose", Ruby interrupted her with a cry of "I am not a kid!" Yang ignored her with what I can only assume is practiced ease and continued without even an instant's pause "and this is my newest friend Jaune Ebner. We... like your bow! It goes well with your pajamas. And we're sorry about the pillow." There was the word again. Friend. It made me feel... strange. Warm.

Her eyes focused in on me with predator like intensity, completely disregarding the pair of sisters next to me. "Jaune Ebner. From Menagerie, by your accent. The preeminent human of Menagerie, made famous by becoming a hunter at age ten, and for taking missions without thought for payment, or his own safety."

"You're that Jaune Ebner?" Yang lifted her eyebrows, seemingly impressed.

Before I could respond Ruby looked at me with wide eyes and said, "That was you? That's so cool! Why didn't you say so? And can I have an autograph?"

Off balance once again, I finally got a word in edgewise. "Yes. And I didn't see how it mattered? And I, uh, guess so?"

The mysterious woman, who I made a mental note to contact should I ever decide I needed to write a biography, continued on once I finished speaking. "Also known for assisting and hindering others without regard for their race, instead only paying attention what actions they take, making him a controversial figure in both pro-faunus and pro-human circles."

I sighed, "Please tell me you're not going to lecture me about how an extra patch of hair somehow magically makes someone less- or more- of a person. I am heartily sick of that conversation."

She slipped a bookmark into her novel before closing it and giving me a small smile. "No, I'm not. It's very commendable of you to do what you've done. I'm simply surprised to see you at Beacon."

I blew out a long relieved breath. I'd had that conversation many times, and it's repetitiveness only added to how unpleasant it was. "I'm surprised to be here. Still Ozpin promised to send hunters to Menagerie if I attended his school, so here I am. Still, you have me at a disadvantage, miss...?"

She blushed. "Blake Belladonna. My apologies for the lack of an introduction."

"We'll call it even if you forget about the pillow."

"Done." She smiled again, tiny and pleased.

Ruby chimed in, "So, um, what... book are you reading?"

"It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control of his body."

Hey, that sounded familiar. "Is it The Strange Tale of the Doctor and The Mortician?" I asked.

"Yes actually. It's a classic. Have you read it before Jaune?" Blake asked me in return.

"Yes. It's very well written. Have you finished reading it?"

Blake looked at me approvingly. "Yes, I have. Are you a fan as well?"

"I hate it on a visceral level actually." I grimaced.

My … friends? Spirits, that's going to take some getting used to. My friends looked at me with varying levels of confusion. Blake spoke up, "I thought you said it was well written."

"It is. But the moral of the story seems to be 'Everybody has a dark side', which I agree with, but it also implies we have no control over those impulses, and the only way to keep from hurting others is by dying. Which I disagree with. Vehemently. We are each responsible for our actions, and we are very much in control of our selves. Even when all the options suck, the choice remains _ours_ to make." I was scowling by the end of my tirade. The main character's suicide had merely been a way to avoid taking responsibility for his actions in my eyes.

Blake's look turned pensive. "I never thought of it that way."

I nodded sagely, "I blame it on all the philosophical texts I've read."

"You read a lot of books then Jaune?", she asked me.

"Hey, everybody needs a hobby or two, right?"

My fellow blonde cut in, smirking at me. "That's true. But reading books is for nerds. Nerd."

I made a hand gesture as if I was sweeping her words away and fired back with mock heat. "Feh. Exactly what I'd expect from an illiterate philistine."

Ruby looked confused. "Philistine?"

Blake spoke, voice dry as mine normally was. "He accused your sister of being an uneducated, art hating barbarian, more or less."

"Oh. I get it. Because she doesn't read like you two."

Yang and I looked at Ruby with pained faces. Finally Yang said, "Hunters are supposed to kill Grimm Rubes. Not banter."

She looked at us sheepishly. "Sorry."

I rolled my eyes at her and saw a flash of red out of the corner of my eye. I rotated my head, on the off chance I'd found Pyrrha again, and what do you know? I'd managed to spot her. Hmm, she was a significantly shorter out of her shoes, though she was still the tallest girl in eyesight by a fair margin. She must wear heels of some kind.

"Hey Pyrrha."

"Jaune?" She asked, walking over towards me and shivering. "What are you doing on the girls side of the ballroom?"

Why must everybody fixate on rules? Sticking it to the man has been my plan A for the better part of a decade, and look how well I turned out! ...Okay, maybe people _should_ pay attention to regulations and what not. "Hanging out with the cool kids." I pointed over to the what was evidently the men's side of the room at a group of guys posing, also sans shirt. "Is it any wonder why? Besides it's not against the rules if I don't get caught. "

Yang looked at them, and then back to me, leering once more. "Mm-mm. You could join in. You blow those guys out of the water."

I delivered my words deadpan. "I would, but I forgot my giant, flashing, neon sign that reads 'I am a massive tool'. I'd just feel silly without it." That earned a an unladylike snort from Yang and Pyrrha (Pyrrha blushing soon afterwords), a chuckle from Blake, and a giggle from Ruby.

I did a quick round of introductions. "Pyrrha, meet Ruby, Yang, and Blake. Ruby, Yang, Blake, meet Pyrrha." Oddly enough I saw a flash of recognition in the eyes of the latter four as they looked at Pyrrha, though they didn't comment.

Yang grinned at Pyrrha, and spoke first. "Nice to meet'ch ya Pyrrha. My friend's friends are my friends too." Was that a tongue twister?

Ruby was next, "It's nice to meet you!" Such an excitable girl. She really did remind me of a puppy.

Pyrrha spoke then, her hair out of it's tail and spilling over her shoulder in what looked like cascade of fire as she nodded at the others, with a polite smile adorning her face. " Any friend of Jaune's is a friend of mine as well."

Blake was last, and spoke soberly with a small nod. Less was more with Blake it seemed. "A pleasure Pyrrha."

They all... considered me their friend? I was honestly touched. Probably in the head, I'll admit, but touched all the same. I vaguely wondered how lucky I must have been to meet such kind people. Maybe I should introduce myself as Jaune, professional huntsman, twice orphaned, and four times lottery winner from now on? Blood was rushing to my face, and I probably had a sappy smile on as well, but I couldn't help it. I felt all warm and light, inside. As if some huge weight had been lifted off of me, one that I had carried so long I forgot it was there.

"I did not expect to see you again so soon Jaune." Pyrrha said to me.

I shook my head, bringing myself back to reality. "Well, I was looking for you."

"Why is that?" she asked, shivering again.

"I just couldn't get enough of your radiant presence. I also didn't want you to freeze to death." I dropped my bedroll on the ground before tossing the sweatshirt towards her. It was a plain black number with my personal symbol on the breast in white, a stylized bow with an equally stylized sword resting across it's limbs in place of an arrow. "Catch."

Pyrrha's face reddened once again, matching her hair, and she began stammering, "J-Jaune I can't wear your clothing!" Pyrrha had a shy smile on her face despite her declaration. She looked awfully pleased for somebody who was trying to sound scandalized.

"I don't see the problem. It's clean and warm. You're cold, and I'm not. So you put it on, becoming warm and comfy, and then I can stop worrying about you. Capeesh?"

She blushed so hard that her cheeks were now surpassing her hair's shade of red, but she also smiled more as she bashfully looked down her crossed legs at the ground. She meekly replied "O-okay Jaune. I-if it will make you happy..." She put it on over the loose red pajamas she wore, and it was very large on her. Hmm. Flustered Pyrrha is pretty cute. I'm not sure what was so embarrassing about borrowing a sweatshirt though.

I nodded, satisfied. "It will, once you've defrosted."

"Where's mine Lover Boy?" Lover Boy? What the hell? I looked at Yang, who was now grinning and elbowing me in the ribs, while Ruby was reddening like Pyrrha, and Blake just looked on, quietly amused. Um. I suddenly feared for my sanity. What if Yang started yelling hair-care terminology at me? I'm not sure why she wanted a sweatshirt though; the blonde didn't look cold.

I spoke with a calm I didn't feel,"I hadn't met you yet so I didn't bring you one, but I can make one real quick. Ruby, Blake, did either of you want one too? And while I'm at it, did you want an extra blanket or something Pyrrha?" My aura began twisting, and I focused in on it. To keep something permanent I had to do things just right. And letting your friend's clothing disappear when they could potentially be preserving their modesty seemed kind of Ozpin-ish to me, so I'd make it permanent.

Yang looked at me curiously. "You can make clothing?"

"It's my semblance."

"Your semblance is tailoring?"

It was Ruby's turn to shoot me a question then. "I thought you could just make weapons?"

"My semblance is the manipulation and creation of matter in general. I can make just about anything I want. I call it Forge." That was technically accurate.

The girls all looked at me, but Yang spoke up first again. Must be her habit or something. "Right. We're BFFs now. Anyone that can make clothes with their mind is pretty awesome in my book."

"Sounds great." Whatever a BFF was.

"That's an amazingly adaptable semblance Jaune." That was from Blake, sounding impressed.

I preened a bit under her words, but kept focused on my semblance. "Thanks."

"That," Pyrrha began, and then paused for a moment before continuing. "must be very useful in any number of situations."

"Yep."

"You're taking more time than you did with all those weapons."

I responded dreamily, my mind still sculpting what was to be. "I make clothing less, and if I forge something incorrectly it will eventually fade. I figure having a shirt randomly disappear would be something you ladies don't want." I wouldn't normally have told anybody that, and it was probably foolish of me to tell these people I'd just met, but I... I wanted to trust them. These people who called me friend. The very first ones that ever had.

Blake put in her two lien, "It must take a lot of focus to do that."

I snorted at her. "It does."

They took the hint and stayed quiet until I finished. It took me a few minutes. It was a plain black, with a yellow flaming heart on the breast. It seemed like it was Yang's symbol, so I figured she might appreciate it. I handed it to her, and unlike the one I gave Pyrrha it fit pretty well, though it was still a little large as it was supposed to be sleepwear. I looked at Pyrrha, a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry about the fit. I can make you another if you like."

"No! I mean, I rather like this one, if you don't mind." The redhead smiled at me warmly. This girl was so kind.

I smiled back at her, and then at Yang. "Keep them then. They're gifts." I turned to Ruby and Blake then. "And I'll make you two something later. Whatever you like."

Blake rewarded me with another small smile. "Thank you Jaune. I may take you up on that."

"Can it be weapon parts?" Whatever doubts I had about her status as a weapon fanatic faded away to nothing after that last sentence.

"Ruby!" Yang scolded.

"Hey! He said whatever I wanted."

I shook my head at their antics. "Sure. I can do that."

Ruby beamed at me. "Thanks."

"It's nothing."

A pleasant, companionable silence descended. I took advantage of the lull to grab my bedroll.

Then Ruby yawned. It traveled around our little group, jumping from person to person. Pyrrha spoke up, still blushing, still smiling. "Perhaps we should turn in. We need to be at our peak tomorrow."

"Indeed." The monosyllable was from Blake, naturally.

"Goodnight then, ladies." They all answered me with some variation of 'Sleep well Jaune' or 'See you tomorrow Jaune' as I walked back to the men's side of the room.

It didn't take long to find a quiet corner, next to a somewhat effeminate dark haired man who was already asleep. Was that a pink streak in his hair? Well whatever. Time to sleep. I drifted off quickly after I laid down, and, perhaps due to the warmth I still felt in my chest, I had pleasant dreams. For once.

 **Notes:**

Writer's block a worst.

As always, a thank you to my reviewers. Reading your reviews helps me come up with words to type.

Parings still pretty much undecided, but I've nailed the teams down.

Pyrrha and Jaune have made assumptions this chapter. Kudos to anybody that guesses what they are. Bonus Kudos if you figure out which are wrong.

For those of you wondering what Jaune's symbol looks like in this fic, I encourage you to look up the Outsider's mark from Dishonored. It's not exactly the same, but it's close. I'd draw it myself and post a link, but I am pathetically bad at drawing. I can't even do stick figures right.

For those of you wondering what a Menagerie accent is like, for the purpose of this fic Velvet speaks with one.

I'm going to try to expand on the backstories and personalities of some characters in this fic. I enjoyed RWBY but the short episode length made it difficult to flesh out characters as a book or a show with longer episodes might have. I will almost certainly get some things wrong doing this, so my apologies in advance if/when I get something wrong.

I'm also thinking of making some character sheets in the style of servants from Fate series. They'd give a little scope of what characters' talents and weaknesses are, though they of course wouldn't be an absolute who would take who in a fight sort of thing. I'd post them as a different story for those who would be afraid of it spoiling anything. I'll probably work on them when I've got writer's block.

As for chapter length, the general response seemed to be "I want to read as much of this as I can" without much care for the actual chapter length, so I'll just end chapters where they feel natural and begin working on the next one.

Rating changed to M as I realized it may well get borderline later on.

Feel free to drop me a line guys. Criticism helps me grow better, and all reviews help me stay motivated.


	4. Alone No Longer

**Disclaimer:**

I don't Own RWBY. I'm also unsure why I bother saying this every chapter as I don't see that fact changing.

 **Story:**

As I mentioned in an earlier chapter, point of view changes are going to start up. I will put their full name in {} every time the POV shifts so you know what too look for. Though this chapter will only have one POV, later ones may have more.

{Pyrrha Nikos}

I could not remember my dream from last night though I tried. All I could recall was camaraderie and laughter, intimacy and joy. It was a pity; I rarely dream, and this one had been pleasant. Still, I looked forward to the new day. Despite sleeping on a hard floor, separated only by a thin bedroll, I had slept well. And warmly, despite the chill air. I felt my lips curl into a soft smile at that last thought as I pulled myself out of my bedroll and towards the showers.

A life time of rising early for training meant I had the showers more or less to myself. Once hot water began sluicing over my body I lost myself in the familiar routine, and I quickly found my mind wandering.

I had chosen to come to Beacon in Vale instead of Sanctum in my homeland for a simple reason: in Mistral, I was alone. Not completely of course. My father, despite the extremely demanding nature of his job as Mistral's Magister Militum, had made time for me whenever he could. My sister, before she passed away, had spent more of her time playing with me than she had spent doing anything else, even though I was three years her junior. And my uncle, who had always been happy to spend time with any member of his family, had spent many hours training me in the arts of combat.

That my father had been a single parent had been a testament to the fact of how dangerous the hunting profession was. Later, my elder sister also lost her life to the forces of Grimm, being forced to fight them well before she should have. And several months ago, my uncle... had committed suicide. And outside of my family I never had anyone I was close to. I never had friends. I never had a lover. So I came to Vale, to escape the isolation of fame and from painful memories both. It may have been the coward's way out, abandoning my father like that, but he at least had many close friends. I had no one but him, and he rarely had time to spend with me, though he tried.

Yesterday had started with hope tempered by nervousness, which transformed into horribly familiar despair as even thousands of miles away from my home people still knew who I was. And then, without fail, they had started tripping over themselves, either to place me up on a pedestal, or try to take advantage of me. Either way, to them I was not a person. Not really.

Until Jaune. He was rough around the edges, but he was kind and thoughtful, and treated me as he did others. When my public persona slipped he actually encouraged me, which was a very new experience. And, while it was embarrassing, noticing I was cold and bringing me a sweatshirt had been very sweet of him. Judging by his confusion over it, it seemed unlikely that he even knew that women typically only wore men's clothing when it was _their_ man's clothing, making him seem particularly earnest in my eyes. And I would take awkward and earnest over charming and oily every time.

After I had met him it seemed things had been falling into place; I saw recognition in the eyes of the women I spoke with last night, but they too had treated me as another person instead of a celebrity. It was almost like Jaune was a lucky charm. I smiled again at that thought as I shut off the water and began toweling off. Jaune desired to be my partner. And he would be if I could arrange it. I finished my daily hygiene rituals, applied a light dusting of cosmetics before making my way to the cafeteria for a light breakfast. It would not do to skip a meal before a hard day of martial tests, but fighting to keep my food down alongside the Grimm due to eating too large of a meal held little appeal to me as well.

Thanks to my impromptu tour yesterday navigating my way to the cafeteria did not take long. I quickly grabbed myself a glass of milk and a bowl of oatmeal, sat down in the more or less deserted mess hall and ate them before heading to the lockers. In transit I passed by a rather energetic girl dragging a sleepy and somewhat effeminate looking boy behind her as I set out to find locker six hundred thirty five.

I padded down the rows of lockers that were just starting to fill with my fellow Beacon hopefuls until I located my locker. A few quick taps on a number pad unlocked it and I withdrew Milo and Akouo, my prized weapon and shield respectively.

After I shut my locker I wondered what else to do. Perhaps listen to music or read books on my scroll? But, no. I had another option now, one I never really had before. Spending time with my new friends.

I would have to find them first, but I could simply wait for them at the entrance to the locker room. It would only be a matter of time before they came into retrieve their own equipment. On the other hand, loitering around outside the locker room would be a little creepy.

An image of myself sporting a green Mohawk, leering at the passers by skittered across my mind's eye, and I let out a brief chuckle. Anything I could picture Russel doing is an activity I would have to avoid. I would simply have to make sure I got the others' scroll numbers later.

"Pyrrha Nikos?" I was about to leave the room when an unfamiliar voice raised it's self over the din of students chatting as they retrieved their weaponry.

"Hello!" I said. I donned the polite smile that was plastered over every Pumpkin Pete's cereal box as I turned to address the stranger who called out to me. I wondered if she was part of the category that idolized me or part of the one that wished to cash in on my fame as I did so. ... Maybe that's a little pessimistic. Jaune hadn't cared about who I was and neither had Ruby, Yang, or Blake, so I _might_ be getting lucky a fifth time. Probably not mind you, but hope springs eternal.

She had pale skin, bright blue eyes, and had long white hair which was similarly styled to mine in a pony tail, though her's was off center. She wore an exceptionally well crafted white dress with beautiful embroidery upon it, and also like me she wore a set of heels. Even with them she was still a great deal smaller than I. Her build could accurately be described as petite, and with her almost delicate features she looked doll like. She also wore pride and ambition like a crown, as if she was going to conquer all of Remnant no matter what stood in her way.

She too put on a polite smile, but there was something predatory lurking behind it. "A pleasure to meet you Miss Nikos. Allow me to introduce myself: Weiss Schnee." The heiress to the Schnee conglomerate perhaps? The Schnee family was said to be very pale and sport white hair.

As she curtsied I became increasingly certain I knew where this conversation was going. "Tell me Pyrrha.", she continued, "Have you put any thought into who's team you would like to be on? I'm sure that many people must be clamoring to form a team with such an accomplished and widely renowned person such as yourself."

How wonderful. Yet another person wanting to ride my coattails to success. I rolled my eyes while her head was still bowed from her curtsy. "I have put some thought into it, yes." Notably Jaune, and then hopefully a pair of the others I'd met last night. Not a glory hound, Miss Schnee. ...That was rather harsh of me. And I can't even apologize without offending her. I am not starting this day off on the right foot.

"Well, I was thinking that we could be on a team together." She said.

I concealed my guilt with practiced ease, and while I was trying to think of a polite way to inform her I already had plans, I noticed Jaune walking behind her.

He looked different than he had last night, speaking with us. He looked closer to how he had when I'd first called out to him, and though he didn't like his sobriquets I could see how people would call him the Somber Swordsman in spite of his plain clothing and lack of weaponry.

He wore pair of dark pants and an unadorned white t-shirt, had messy blonde hair in need of a trim kept out of his eyes by a plain leather headband, and looked out at the world with dark blue eyes. But with him it seemed like drapes on a window; and behind them was, simply put, will. He seemed regal in a hard, cold way, in control of himself and the world around him. And there was a sense of melancholy to him as well, but it was subtle, as if he was trying to hide it from the world at large. It was the eyes I think, cerulean orbs deep and dark as the night sea.

It was a short moment before he caught sight of me as well, and the somber determination in his demeanor faded away to be replaced by something warmer and more relaxed. My heart sped up a little when it did. It was marvelous to know there was at least one person who was happy simply to see me.

"Pyrrha. Sleep well?" He asked. I felt my smile grow a little brighter as he did. "I did, thank you."

He then turned one of his forced, painful looking smiles, which were no doubt his attempt at being polite, towards Weiss. "A good morning to you as well, miss."

Weiss scowled at his awkward visage. "Excuse me. We were talking here." She then gestured at me. " And do you even realize who you're speaking too?" Wait, what?

Jaune rolled his eyes and his response was characteristically dry. "No, I just call everybody I meet Pyrrha. I'm bound to get it right someday."

She scowled at him and placed her hands on her hips. "Have you been living under a rock? She graduated Sanctum as it's Valedictorian." My smile slipped. I don't want this. Jaune doesn't know who I am and it's _wonderful_.

Jaune looked a little lost as he eyed me. "That's... a hunter academy? In Mistral I presume." He regained his confidence as he continued. "It must have taken a lot of hard work. Congratulations." I regained my smile as he finished. Jaune still saw me as, well, me. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad?

He then addressed Weiss after that, "And I haven't been living under a rock, actually. Only scrubs live under rocks. I lived under an entire mountain."

Weiss persisted in proclaiming my merits. "She won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row! It's a new record."

Jaune looked at me again, impressed, but not intimidated, worshipful, or calculating. This wasn't going badly at all, really. Having someone who knew what I've done and still treating me normally was even better than having someone who was simply ignorant of my family and personal accomplishments. "For the whole country I'd imagine? Skill is one's natural talent honed by time and effort. The dedication necessary to win four tournaments in a row must have been immense. That you've done so speaks well of your character, Pyrrha."

Though I privately considered my skill to be equally due to the fact that I had no social life what so ever to clutter up my schedule as it was determination, I still felt absurdly pleased by his honest compliment. I'd received many compliments before, but I'd rarely felt shy like this afterwards. I needed to pull myself together for initiation, no matter how pleasant it was. So I gave him a shallow bow, so that I could hide my warming face with my bangs. "Thank you."

"She's on the front of every box of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes!" Weiss was practically screaming now as she waved her arms about.

Jaune looked at me, blushing, embarrassed. So he wasn't intimidated by my record breaking national win streak but was by a box of _cereal_? Really? ...Actually it was kind of cute, when I thought of it that way. "I don't mean to belittle your accomplishments Pyrrha. I just don't have any context for them. I have no idea what marshmallow flakes even _are_."

Oh. He was worried he was offending me. He really is a sweet guy. I quickly spoke to put him at ease, "Please don't worry about it. They're not very good for you anyway." He nodded acceptance, having regained his equilibrium once more.

Weiss started grinding her teeth, evidently missing our conversation entirely. "Do you _really_ think you deserve to be on a team with her?" How rude! There is no one I would desire as my partner other than Jaune!

Pain and uncertainty flickered over Jaune's face after she said that, and it made me sick to see it. And then furious. How _dare_ she hurt him? How _dare_ she attempt to drive him away from me?

My voice remained polite and friendly on the surface, but I doubted Weiss would miss the edge I put into it. I'm willing to admit that I get rather punchy when I'm mad. "Miss Schnee, allow me introduce my friend Jaune Ebner. Perhaps you've heard of him?" I put an unsubtle emphasis on the word friend, as well as his name, and saw Wiess's shock. Which wasn't surprising; though Jaune's face wasn't as well known as mine, he was arguably even more famous than I.

Jaune on the other hand reacted the same way to the word friend as he had yesterday. First with astonishment, and then with embarrassment, and then finally with a fragile, hopeful smile that made me want to hold him. The first time I saw it I knew that I was not the only one who had been lonely and was glad to find companionship at last.

I waited until Weiss had opened her mouth to speak before I continued. See? Punchy. "The child hunter from Menagerie. He's the first person to start hunting professionally at age ten, shattering the previous record of nineteen."

Weiss looked anxious now, and Jaune finally seemed to recognize my courteousness as veiled hostility. He looked between Weiss and myself before shifting his facing slightly towards Weiss, as if she were a potential threat. I continued on with my well mannered verbal offense. "He's completed over five hundred missions in the seven years he's been active as a hunter. Another new record, this time surpassing fully trained hunters."

I was glad I'd read a Hunter Monthly magazine with an article on him during my flight to Vale. It made this much easier. "Not to mention that even his most conservative estimated Grimm kill count is measured in five digits, meaning he has more experience fighting against the forces of Grimm than any two entire teams at Beacon."

Weiss looked defeated already, but I went in for the final blow anyway. "He's also appeared in the news and in many magazines, including Age, Hunter Monthly, and Populi, just to name a few."

Weiss looked mortified while Jaune looked flustered. Maybe I'd gone a little too far? I know some men are little touchy about others standing up for them, particularly when it's a woman...

Jaune recovered quickly with a pair of slow deep breaths and then smiled at me. His earnest smile was a thing of beauty to see; it seemed like the room grew brighter as he did. His forced smiles were painful to look at, but his honest ones were truly stunning, like the sun emerging from behind dark clouds. "You know, it's been a while since somebody's leaped to my defense."

He chuckled and went on, his smile becoming sardonic. "Nice role reversal by the way. Now all you have to do is slay a dragon and you'll get my hand in marriage _and_ half the kingdom, Princess Charming. Now let your knight go put on his shining armor." It seems I was worrying for nothing. I let out a giggle, more from nerves than anything else as Weiss let out an indignant, "Hey!"

He took a step past me and continued smiling as he opened up locker six hundred thirty six while I wondered what the chances of him having the locker next to me were. "Still partners then?" he asked, lifting his eyes to meet mine.

"Of course." I replied, returning his warm expression. And then he took off his shirt.

In Mistral there are many beaches, so I'd seen men without shirts before, and it was simply an observation. I had felt nothing. The sky is blue, water is wet and that man is not wearing a shirt. Even last night I had regarded Jaune the same way, but evidently things have changed. Blood rushed to my face, warmth pooled in my lower stomach, and I looked away from him. But I also kept taking glances back at him, entranced with his figure, as he changed.

Jaune had the same balanced build my father had, one which I had come to associate with professional huntsmen. His muscles were almost precisely as large as they could be without slowing him down, and they stood out much more rigidly than our peers; he must exercise frequently and intensely. The occasional silver stripe of old scar tissue made him look dangerous, predatory, and very, very, masculine.

Weiss ogled him a moment before turning away, her face red and muttering, "How shameless." First insults, and now ogling? Make up your mind already. Jeez.

Jaune let out an amused snort. He then, well, rippled, his way into a heavy looking leather jacket. It was extremely interesting to watch, but I was a little disappointed once he finished. He then began securing heavy plates of steel on to his person. They looked about a centimeter and a half thick to me; the whole suit must weigh at least forty kilos. Perhaps as many sixty.

Weiss spoke up again as he donned his armor. "I... apologize for my behavior Jaune."

He looked down at his gauntlets, testing the movement of his fingers within them, and said, "It's fine."

She continued on, "Perhaps, you, Pyrrha and my self could join forces? A team with us three on it would be remarkably able."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Without so much as an introduction?"

I saw Weiss smirk a bit at that. "Of course, what am I thinking? I am Weiss Schnee. A pleasure to meet you."

He nodded amiably. "You famous for something too then? You were talking like you were."

Weiss gaped. "You haven't heard of the Schnee company?"

Jaune gave her a very direct look. "I have. But I haven't heard of Weiss." He said, fastening a bandoleer around his armored chest. Well, I guess I'm not the only one who's feeling punchy today.

Weiss flushed with anger, and turned to stalk away. "I don't have to put up with this."

Jaune's voice was gentle when he spoke to her as she left, but still loud enough to rise over her angry foot falls. "Perhaps there is more to people than how well known they are, Weiss? Either way, I wouldn't mind being on a team with you." She paused a moment, but in the end she decided to leave. Jaune let out a sigh. That hadn't been what I was expecting.

Once Weiss was out of earshot I spoke, "To be honest, I thought you were going to tell her off."

Jaune shook his head, and spoke his voice sounding faintly tired. "She doesn't view people fairly, which is a bad habit for quite a few reasons, and sadly common. So, while it's fun, you can't teach people much by lambasting them. To make somebody realize that they're wrong you need to make them think, and in my experience, questions work best for that. " He made a hand gesture at Weiss's retreating figure then, his face twisting into a bitter smile, "Though it's never a surefire thing as you can see. Besides she wasn't that bad; I've put up with much worse in Menagerie."

That made me think. No parent worth the name would let their child do something as dangerous as hunting Grimm at age ten. I often found things difficult, being alone, and surrounded by praise and adulation, with the love and support of my family. How much harder must it have been for him, a human in Menagerie, surrounded by scorn and hatred, without anyone at all? He must have been completely isolated, and had to have endured a great deal of peril, discrimination, and pain to have changed things as he has. The strength of will necessary to do that, to help people who despised you, day after day, was almost unfathomable. It was little wonder that he seemed so serious, so sad.

"Why?" I asked him.

"You lost me. Care to elaborate?" He looked at me with midnight eyes as he continued fastening on his armor.

"You help, even when others hurt you. I was wondering why."

He smirked. "Well, I'm not a masochist, if that's what you're thinking. I'd even say I'm a bit of an S."

"Jaune, I'm being serious. It can not have been easy."

He looked at the ceiling for a few seconds, and when he spoke his voice was low and full of shame? Grief? It was hard to tell. "It wasn't. There have been times, when I was at my lowest, where I did some truly awful things." He ran his armored fingers through his hair as he kept on. "But I still want to be a man I can be proud of. I still want the world we live in to be a better place. And I still want everyone to treat each other with decency and compassion. And I really do enjoy lending a hand, helping, giving joy and hope and life. I don't always manage to live up to my ideals, but I try. As hard as I can. There just doesn't seem to be much of a point if I don't. And blindly lashing out at others doesn't help anyone."

A little sliver of guilt pierced me. For a moment I would have sworn I saw my sister's face, as I'd last seen her, pale except where it was covered in blood. I too have done things I'm not proud of, and I also do my best to treat others with kindness and dignity, but it wasn't always so. And I just hurt my first friend with my selfishly intrusive curiosity. So I gave him my best sympathetic smile, though he was fastening his armor with more attention than the task required and didn't see it. "I understand Jaune. We all have our crosses to bear." I placed one of my hands on his yet unarmored shoulder. He went tense with shock for a moment, but, with glacial slowness, as if he was afraid, he covered my hand with one of his, large and cool in it's sheath of steel. Then he looked up at me with a lopsided grin, but his voice was wry instead of ashamed. I'd count it as a success. "Yeah, I guess we do."

For a little while, we simply stayed that way in a silent show of understanding and support. But the constraints of time forced it's end a few minutes later, and his hand slowly slipped off of mine. "I should probably finished getting dressed." he said. "I doubt the staff would be understanding if we show up late to the test." I removed my hand from his shoulder so he could finish girding himself for battle.

It had taken a few more minutes, but he now wore the full suit of armor he was famous for. He began slowly filling his bandoleer with clear vials the size of my thumb out of a small brown chest stored in his locker. I looked at the vials curiously.

He noticed my gaze. "Say, Pyr, do you want one? They're Lys's tears. I calculated the doses for me, but if you just take one or two you'll be fine."

A nickname? Since it's you, I'll allow it. "Lys's Tears? I am afraid that I have not heard of them before."

He shrugged. "It's probably outdated and got replaced or something. It's a medicine that increases aura regeneration. You can drink or inject it as you like."

I widened my eyes. There is no drug or anything else that speeds up aura generation. My voice was breathy as I replied, "Jaune, I've never heard of anything that can do that. That could increase hunters' efficiency across the entire world."

He looked surprised. "Really? I mean, I've been making and using it for years. I thought it would be standard issue."

"No, it's... it's... well it's not standard. Or even heard of. Is it expensive to make?"

"No, the ingredients are pretty common. It's a real pain to actually brew up though. On the plus side it has a long shelf life." He picked up a handful of the vials and offered them to me.

"Jaune, are you sure?"

He just raised an eyebrow. "Yes. And now for the disclaimer: You can technically over dose on it, but it would take something along the lines of a gallon for the average adult. There is a pretty nasty side effect though: increased emotional response. That can get pretty dangerous in a combat situation, so don't take more than one vial at a time until you learn how to control yourself under it's influence. I would also recommend against using any until your aura's at the half mark or so, at least for today; it'd be best to get used to it while nothing is at risk. If you do end up taking it, it's effects will last a couple of hours give or take."

I accepted them and slid all of the vials but two back into my locker. Those two I shoved into an ammo pouch on my person which I emptied out for their sake. I wouldn't use more than one at a time, but who knew how long initiation would last? I turned a grateful smile to him when I was done. "Thank you. I shall have to pay you back for this. And the sweatshirt too."

He looked at me with quiet contentment before closing the chest and his locker both. "It's nothing."

He says 'it's nothing' a lot. Is that his catchphrase? Either way I was going to reward him for the consideration and kindness he has shown me. "So Jaune, shall we head to the launch point?" I asked.

He gave me a boyish grin, his somber mood dispelled once more. "Sounds good, Pyr."

I hefted Milo and Akouo as Jaune finished checking over his gear. His voice rose over the faint noise of his moving armor, "Let's knock this thing out of the park partner." His grin turned positively wolfish.

I replied in kind. "They won't know what hit them." It felt like the end of my dream had come back to me. I felt closer to Jaune now than I had to anybody in what seemed a long time.

So we strode out, side by side, to meet Beacon's test.

 **Notes:**

As it turns out, I was wrong. Car crashes are worse than writer's block by a large margin. I promise to at least tell you guys if I'm going on hiatus or canceling the fic, though if you've been following me so far then you'll probably know my update times vary wildly based on how motivated I feel.

Thank you again, mah reviewers. It makes typing these up a lot easier, and more fun. Also over a hundred follows which is pretty damn cool. Thank you mah followers.

This chapter brought to you in Pyrrha vision due to the fact that Jaune is wholly incapable of recognizing how others view him. Hopefully I got her tone down correctly. I always saw her as presenting a public persona ever since her eye roll at Weiss. Speaking of Weiss, I'm not sure I got her down right.

And yeah, Jaune doesn't realize it, and would deny it if anybody claimed so in front of him, but he has a tragic hero vibe going on. People with strong maternal instincts will want to give him a hug and tell him everything will be okay.

Last chapter, I think I may have screwed up the character interaction. I was trying to make some of the characters come off as embarrassed or friendly for the most part, not tripping over themselves to get with Jaune. He's only known them for a day after all. Once again, tell me if I screwed that up. Seriously, help an amateur author out here. I'd really appreciate it. Leave me a review and let me know how I done goofed, and more importantly how I can keep from doing so in the future. Reviews that just bash on me will turn me into a sad panda. You wouldn't want me to be a sad panda would you? Panda paws are horrible for typing.

And before I forget, Vale and Menagerie use the US Customary measurement system, while the other three countries use the Metric system in this fic. It's just a little piece of world building so if it's confusing I'll just drop it, and everybody will abruptly use the same system.

So, evidently it's against site rules to respond to reviews directly in a chapter, but I'd like to respond to more of my reviewers. I can PM some, but many leave anonymous reviews. Any advice?


	5. Taking Flight

**Disclaimer:**

I still don't own RWBY. It's probably a good thing. I'd get so mired in the minutiae of the setting I'd never get anything done.

 **Ante Story Notes:**

Right. This section will be my response to responses bit from now on.

Thank you my reviewers. They helped me slog through this hot mess of a chapter. Also over a hundred favorites now, which is pretty cool. Thanks guys/gals/others/eldritch abominations. A special thanks to Garm88 and Hysterical Clerical Hijinks for telling me when I screw up. I really appreciate it.

The responses from last chapter were really good; seems like I didn't screw things up too badly. I was worried I'd come off as Weiss bashing. Hopefully I can keep it up.

One more thing? I am incredibly unhappy with this chapter. I've rewrote the damn thing five times now, and I'm still deeply disatisfied with it. And most annoyingly I can't even tell why I'm spazzing out over it. Agh. Shoot me a review or a PM and let me know how I can do better.

Edited: 10/11

This is now chapter five, the no longer complete garbage edition. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but at least it isn't a total eyesore now.

 **Story:**

{Jaune Ebner}

Clink. Clink. Clink. My every step produced one of the small clinking noises as my metal shod foot struck the ground. It used to be a minor annoyance, but years of doing dangerous work has made it comforting. It took me a long while to get used to my armor, but now outside of it I felt vulnerable, weak. The noise simply meant I had the security of half an inch of metal that any would be assailant would have to get through to harm me. The soft noise my footfalls made was the only noise drifting through the quickly warming Autumn air between Pyrrha and I as we walked towards initiation.

The silence was a warm relaxing thing, like a cup of mulled wine in winter, despite our last conversation having been a little heavy for pretest banter in my book. Probably because she had clearly demonstrated that she was looking out for me, and was willing and capable of protecting my back. I don't have a lot of experience working with others, but in the same book that said precombat conversations should be light also had an entry decreeing those as ideal qualities in a partner. Someone is watching out for me again. It was strange. And it was wonderful.

And even more importantly, we're friends. I didn't want her to think she was in this alone, so I made a mental note to reciprocate on that front as soon as possible. Unless, maybe helping out with that Mohawk jackass counted? Either way, our test would almost certainly include team combat, so I'd soon get a chance to show her I had her back too.

I was loathe to break the quiet, but since we were headed for combat we needed to iron out a few details.

"Ah, Pyr? What distance do you prefer to engage at?"

"I can engage at any distance, though I do prefer melee to mid range. How about you Jaune?"

"I enjoy getting up close and personal, but I'm much better at mid to long range."

Pyrrha looked surprised. "I had thought you would be best in melee."

"Yeah, Somber Swordsman right?" I asked, emphasizing the word swordsman. "I would've gone with Acerbic Archer personally. I'm much better with a bow, and I have a few rapid fire attacks with my semblance which work best at mid range."

I scratched the back of my head before letting out a sigh. "The rumor mill gets a lot of things wrong actually. I haven't done over five hundred missions. I'm still quite a ways from hitting four hundred."

Pyrrha gave me a sympathetic smile. "I know what you mean. They call me the Invincible Girl, and I'm anything but." She let out a rueful chuckle. "I learned that lesson very thoroughly. Whenever my head started getting too big, one of my family members would spar with me. Briefly."

I felt a familiar little pang of longing in my chest at the word family, which I promptly ignored. I refuse to begrudge others having nice things just because I don't have them. "Your family's pretty hardcore I take it?"

Her shoulders tensed enough that I noticed it in my peripheral vision. When she spoke her voice came out in the overly casual tone of someone trying not to show that something bothered them. "My father is Mistral's Magister Militum, and my uncle was Mistral's Champion."

Was? I'm forced refer to my family with that same damn was. I knew that was so well it caused me an actual, literal pain to form in my chest to hear it pass my friend's lips. And I noticed that she hadn't mentioned her mom, another unhappy little conversational piece which I was intimately familiar with.

Real pain is an ugly thing, one which we all come to know in greater or lesser amounts through out life. I thought I hated to see somebody hurting, but it turned out that was _nothing_ compared to knowing my friend was hurting. I wonder if that makes me overprotective, or if that's normal?

I wanted to help her somehow, to take away the pain I saw. But realistically the only thing I could do for her, right now at least, was shifting the topic. Maybe I should ask after her dad? The Magister Militum was the head of Mistral's armed forces, so there had to be at least a few stories there, but they might not be happy either: though it had been decades since war had last rocked remnant people still frequently died in the constant skirmishing against the Grimm. I needed something else...

Oh, right. I was trying to figure out how we were going to fight together before I got distracted. "Well, Pyr, you know what my semblance is, what's yours?"

Her tension faded almost immediately. That worked a lot better than I thought it was going to, not that I'm complaining. She quirked an eyebrow. "You just come right out and ask a girl that?"

I smiled, self satisfied and lazy. "Afterwards I'll ask how old you are and how much you weigh."

She let out a quiet laugh before bumping into my hip with hers as I was mid stride, forcing me to take a pair of somewhat awkward steps to regain my balance. I chalked up another point for Jaune on my mental score board. "My semblance is polarity. I would appreciate it if you refrained from telling others though Jaune; I prefer to keep it as a surprise."

I nodded, back to business. "Of course. How strong is it?" My father's weapon, which I buried with him, is made from a single massive earth dust crystal that had manipulated magnetism. It had been an utterly terrifying ranged weapon; it's recoil alone would literally tear my arm off, aura or no, if I tried to fire it. The shot it's self could kill most things just passing somewhere _near_ them. If her semblance was of comparable power I could just forge some flechettes and we could massacre Grimm en masse with a whirling hurricane of steel.

"I can move someone your size with a little effort. My own clothing is made from cloth of metal and hardened leather, so I can move myself with it as well. I often use it to manipulate weaponry to attack with extra power and accuracy." Not nearly as strong as my old man's rail gun then. Well, that's to be expected really. My father was ridiculously powerful.

"We have extra maneuverability then. Any other capabilities?"

She nodded. "The stones on my circlet are two air dust crystals. They heighten my awareness in a manner somewhat similar to fish or birds." So they _are_ dust crystals.

"Fish? Birds?" I asked, blinking.

"They register disturbances in the air around themselves, giving me complete spatial awareness of everything with in a dozen or so meters of myself while I run my aura through them. I got the idea from watching a school of fish swim by me when I was sailing."

Damn, really? A lot of my moves rely on sleight of hand, blocking or overwhelming senses, and feints. Fighting her would be hell. I have to get my grubby little paws on some dust. And, you know, figure out how to use the stuff.

I let out a low impressed whistle. "Beautiful _and_ functional. I approve. Did you make it yourself?" She nodded, looking pleased. I shook my head in admiration; no wonder she was a four time champion. I looked to the sky with a little twinge of envy. Is this the difference a formal education makes? "And here I thought I was pretty good having spatial awareness of the things I forged."

She blushed profusely. "Um. The... sweatshirt you gave me?"

What? Oh. _Oh_. I blushed a bit too, ashamed. "No, gods no." She thought I was groping her with my semblance. Do I really look like some kind of sexual predator?

Pyrrha looked a little hurt at that. I all but tripped over myself frantically trying to correct the misunderstanding, my words coming out in a jumble. "It's, uh, not that you're not beautiful or anything, because you are, it's that I'm not a molester. Because that would be wrong. My semblance doesn't work like that, not that I would try it even if it did, because, not a molester like I said. Um. I...I'll... just shut up now." Open mouth, insert foot, proceed to choke to death on foot. Truly, I am masterful orator. My face felt so hot I was surprised that it hadn't caught fire.

"If you weren't using it to... feel me, then how does it work?" Pyrrha asked me, looking both relieved and amused.

I shrugged, calming back down. "I'm not sure. I can just tell where the things I make are and what state they're in, at least when it's close enough or when I concentrate on it. It's how I can use so many weapons; I never have to worry about differences in my weapons' size throwing me off."

Pyrrha tapped her chin with a slender index finger. "I was wondering about that."

We rounded the last bend in the road and saw the launching platforms as well as Ozpin and another teacher I'd seen before but didn't know, and many of our peers including all those I'd met yesterday.

The unknown blonde teacher was talking to the assembly. "... You'll each be given teammates. Today." Ruby groaned at that.

Ozpin picked up as she stopped to take a breath. "These teammates for the next for the rest of your time at Beacon, so it will be in your interest to partner with some with whom you can work well." Is that so Captain Obvious?

"That being said," Ozpin continued, "the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." I felt my blood pressure spike as Ozpin finished that sentence. Of all the inane bullshit. We get our teammates randomly? I'm pretty sure some of my peers grumbled about it, but I couldn't hear them over my grinding teeth.

He wasn't finished, but I pretty much phased him out at that point anyway, too busy trying to figure out how to get a team full of people I wanted to waste time listening to the infuriating old windbag. Blah, blah, blah, you're on your own, abandoned temple, grab and protect a relic, I'm a jackass, blah blah blah. After a subjective eternity he finished.

Ha. While Ozpin was babbling I managed to think of a way forward. I'm not sure about teams, but I can at least be sure of who my partner is. "Hey, Pyr, you still want to be partners right?"

"That would be ideal, yes." She said, determination radiating off her like heat from a fire.

I nodded. "I can handle our landing, if you can defend us until we land."

She looked at me curiously. "I don't think we're allowed to launch together."

"He didn't say we couldn't." I said.

Her bright green eyes glittered with a sudden gleeful mischief. "No. No, he did not, did he?"

"Alright then. Stand in front of me, and I'll bind us together."

I stood behind her on the same platform, which was right next to Ruby, and bound us together tightly with straps made from my aura in a manner reminiscent of a double parachute harness. Her back was pressed firmly against my cuirass, making balancing a somewhat awkward affair. Pyrrha's long red hair tickled my nose all the while and I was forced to inhale her aroma. She smelled really good actually; something sweet and unfamiliar. I smiled at the thought. Whatever it was it suited her well; sweet and unfamiliar was an excellent parallel for Pyrrha herself.

That Green Mohawk punk was grinding his teeth audibly as he glared at me. It took me a moment, but I connected the dots. I whispered into Pyrrha's ear, "I bet twenty lien that Mohawk the Creeper over there thinks I can actually feel you through half an inch of armor."

She went perfectly still for a moment, giving me a chance to observe the flush creeping up the back of her neck. I could only imagine how red her face was, but my imagination is pretty good. I nearly giggled, but managed to keep it from escaping my lips through sheer force of will. "...Did you think I was just cuddling you?"

"Q-quiet you."

I let my laugh out then, and it felt good.

Ruby glanced over at us, forlorn, as students kept shuffling on to platforms. "You already decided who your partner's going to be?"

I glanced back at her from the corner of my eye. What was with her eyes? They were huge and made me feel like I'd just kicked her into a gutter full of mud and started laughing at her or something. There wasn't much I could do about it though, at least not without breaking my word with Pyrrha. A man's word is his worth, and by breaking it I would be made less. Besides, my instincts told me that Pyrrha's look would at least that pitiful if I abandoned her for Ruby at this juncture, though none of that made me feel any better about it. I wonder what it says about me, when I'm more comfortable with fighting monsters to the death than I am talking to people?

"I...I'm sorry Ruby." I began a little awkwardly, rubbing the back of my head with my armored hand. "Pyrrha called dibs, and saved me from a wicked white witch. We can still be on a team though, and even if we're not, it's not like we can't hang out just because we're on different teams or anything."

Ruby brightened up a little once I finished, though it was still a far cry from the cheerful girl I'd met yesterday. I wasn't sure what else I could do about it though. "Yeah, that's true." She said.

Yang, who had been standing next to Ruby spoke up next. "Wait, white witch? You had a run in with the... Weiss Sheet?" I silently thanked her for dragging us out of the verbal quagmire I'd created. While she proceeded to don a pair of aviator sunglasses with one hand while pointing out Weiss with her other, who was standing further down the line. She stood as far from as as she possibly could, and refused to so much as glance in our direction. I honestly hadn't meant to offend her, but well. I have talents, but speaking isn't one of them. Maybe if I got in some more practice I'd stop flailing around when I try to talk with people.

Hey. It could happen.

"Weiss Sheet?" Pyrrha asked. I looked over at Weiss as she spoke and it clicked after a few seconds of befuddlement. I noted that her 'assets' were a great deal smaller than Yang's, or Pyrrha's, or even Ruby's. I let out a not quite suppressed chortle of laughter. Yang's jokes are so terrible. Yang flashed me a sunny grin as while Pyrrha and Ruby looked on, seemingly lost.

Yang explained it for their benefit. "Weiss Sheet, because she's cold and flat as an iced over runway."

Pyrrha just shook her head at Yang's antics, almost making me sneeze as the apex of her ponytail continued tickling my nose, while Ruby face palmed. "Yang! She already hates me. How is this going to make it any better?"

Yang shrugged. "Meh. She's pretty much a lost cause anyway."

"She's not so bad." I said smirking. "She just needs to take a chill pill."

Yang smirked at me "Maybe we won't have to Weiss her out after all."

Ruby let out a whine. "Yang!"

Pyrrha just shook her head again, but I could hear the smile in her voice. "I think your sense of humor is contagious Yang."

Yang replied, "I know. It's great."

"Did you figure out how they're making teams?" Ruby asked.

I shrugged, the movement almost ruining the precarious balance Pyrrha and I had found. "Not yet. But hey, just decide what you want to happen and take the best steps toward it you can right? Maybe it-" has something to do with the relics? I never got to finish that sentence. I'd just gotten through the word 'it' when, without warning, Pyrrha and I were launched. Before anybody else. Despite being about a third of the way down the line up from the right hand side. So it made no sense what so ever. Seriously, Ozpin is such a _dick._

Pyrrha let out a startled scream. I did too, but if anybody calls me out on it I'll deny it with my dying breath. I shut my trap, and started coming up with a solution.

We hadn't been expecting the launch and were tumbling tail over teakettle in a more or less uncontrolled fashion. So much so that I was having trouble telling which way was down, and was mildly regretting having a large breakfast before I promptly crushed the blasphemous thought. Luckily I could tell which way we were tumbling at least, so I started using slide.

This time instead of pressing down with all my aura, I used what aura I had in my upper torso to push in the opposite direction compared to my lower body. It was a bit of a strain on my core, but I didn't work out for show. I did it so I could do maneuvers like this. Well, that and hit things really, really hard.

I managed to stop us from spinning with that stunt at least. We were still a good ways from the tree tops too, so my original plan could still work. My aura billowed out from my back and connected to the harness I'd made for myself and Pyrrha. It took less than a second for it to solidify, and we were abruptly no longer falling. I felt a my lips part in a grin of fierce triumph. Screw you Ozpin.

My aura had formed into a great v-shaped glider connected directly to the harness' straps on the back of my armor. My arms stretched out on both sides of my body to let me steer by shifting my weight. I loved this, the feeling of the wind running across my face and through my hair. Admittedly it would have been even better if Pyrrha's pony tail didn't keep slapping me across the face, but still, there was a freedom up here, riding the wind, that I felt nowhere else. I didn't spend as much time gliding as I'd like, but there was little I loved better. It's why I had originally looked forward to my flight to Vale.

Pyrrha let out an amazed laugh. "Jaune, we're flying!"

I laughed with her. "All according to plan. You keep an eye out for Grimm, I'll look for a safe place to land."

{Glynda Goodwitch}

I watched our applicants launch through the air, in particular Mr. Ebner and Ms. Nikos, who glided away together.

"You disapprove." The headmaster said before taking another sip of coffee.

"It sets a bad precedent. Why did you allow it?" I didn't bother asking why he launched them when he did. I already knew the answer: it amused him to do so.

Ozpin nodded. "You know the partnering process isn't really random. That partnership was one of the potential ones I had selected. We'll have to change the rules for next year of course." That was true. We controlled the launch, therefore we controlled the landing points as well, and could all but guarantee that the partnerships that formed would be serviceable. It was important to at least create a pretense of chance lest somebody's parents decided to complain about their partner's race, or wealth, or some other such nonsense.

I looked at him sharply. "You're manipulating our students again."

"We have quite the batch of prodigies this year. Many of them are damaged in some way. Miss Nikos and Mister Ebner are two such cases. Have you read their psych profiles? Though they may well end up becoming mutually dependent on one another, they will not take advantage of each other either. Not all of our new students would refrain from doing so. My hope is being around someone who will care for and assist them will help them both heal. Can you really call it manipulation if it's for their own good?"

I sighed. "Yes I can. Is there no other way?"

The headmaster gazed at me soberly. "There are, but they are all a great deal worse than what I'm doing now. Mr. Ebner would have it worst of all. Once it gets out who his late father was, there is no telling what will happen."

"Then why have you been feeding those," My voice twisted the word into a mockery far before it left my mouth. "'facts' to the tabloids? The young man has been featured in a dozen magazines and news reports in the last two months."

Ozpin's tone went past sober into something bleak and bitter. "It's more difficult to make a celebrity simply disappear."

I searched his eyes for deceit and found none. It was hard to tell with him some times. He's an excellent teacher and huntsman, but he's always enjoyed his games far too much for my taste. It was even more aggravating when he used people as the pieces. "Who was his father then?"

A crinkling at his eyes was his only sign of amusement, but it was there. "Surly you can tell from his last name?"

"Ebner is one of the most common Atlesian family names in the world." I said blandly.

"But how many Ebners are from Menagerie?"

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, careful not knock off my glasses. "Many people emigrated during the formation of Menagerie."

My superior looked at me with a subtle expression of reproach I'd likely have missed if we hadn't known each other for more than twenty years. But we have, so I knew I was ruining this for him. It quite nearly made my headache worth it. "His father was Dietrich Ebner."

Things started clicking into place. "The Black Thorn?"

"The same."

"So that's why you went to such lengths to recruit him. How did you know?" Dietrich Ebner, the Black Thorn. The most powerful warrior in living memory, who knew more of aura than anyone and used it to preform terrible and amazing feats that should have been impossible. The general of Menagerie's forces during the Faunus Rebellion, who many considered to be a monster, while to others he had been a hero simply doing what was necessary to protect his people. Perhaps it was both, but whatever the truth was he had killed many people. And there would still be those who held a grudge against him, and some would be quite willing, even eager, to take their rage out on his son, who would be weak and defenseless in comparison to such a powerful hunter.

"It was a mere suspicion before we fought. I've fought the Black Thorn before and was lucky enough to survive, so I recognized his style of combat in how Jaune fought, though it was very, very rough. That much could have been a coincidence, but more importantly, I also saw him use some of his foster father's aura techniques. He actually managed to land a hit on me using one, you know. He voluntarily tore his own arm out of his socket doing it too. The young man truly does need help."

The final pieces clicked into place. "You want to disseminate his knowledge of aura. That's why you're manipulating him."

"Partly. Considering the alternatives that Remnant's militaries would take, is this so bad? I truly am trying to ensure all of my students have the brightest future possible, including Jaune."

I imagined what the generals' reactions would be. Even James... "It is bad." I began severely, before my voice softened. "...But it's also the best we can do, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Ozpin replied matter of factly, raising his mug once more.

I turned my eyes back to the camera feeds in time to watch Jaune and Pyrrha land amid an abnormally large pack of beowolves. They'd evidently detached from that odd glider a short ways up and came up fighting, back to back. Pyrrha spun into combat, her blade slashing down low level Grimm with impunity before spinning away to the next. It was no wonder how she had become a four time champion. Quick and graceful, no beowolf came close to touching her as she slew them, save from behind. Those who attempted to flank her met with Jaune.

He was the juggernaut to her dervish, dealing out crushing blows with a large sword. His technique was sloppy, and though he made most of it up with a frankly ridiculous amount of raw physical speed and power for someone his age wearing such heavy armor, the occasional claw still found it's way past his guard to rake pointlessly against his armor. As I watched one beowulf leaped over the corpse of one of it's fallen brethren which still had Jaune's blade lodged in it's chest to attack him. For a moment I thought he was going to be overwhelmed, or else would be forced to let the second wolf attack his partner's back. But then I caught a clear glimpse of his face through the camera, calm and remote. He responded with a gesture that would have been pointlessly arrogant had he been any less physically powerful: a back hand. His steel clad extremity glowed with white aura as it swept out with far more speed than he showed so far, slapping the beowolf to the ground with a newly deformed skull.

"It may not be perfect, but he can find a place here." I murmured to myself.

{Jaune Ebner}

In the end, I couldn't find a safe place to land. Grimm had been in every clearing I'd seen; I guess all the activity from the students had kicked the metaphorical ant hill. It had been green foliage and black and white Grimm as far as the eye could see.

I looked down at the nearest clearing. It was full of dozens of beowolves; large bipedal canine Grimm, black with red eyes as all Grimm were. They worked in packs but were extremely weak, at least in comparison to a hunter; they stacked up very well against civilians with predictably tragic results. "It looks like we're coming in hot Pyrrha! Trust your back to me, and I'll keep them off it!" I shouted over the rushing wind.

"And I will keep them off yours!" She yelled back.

Once we landed I quickly forged myself one of my favorite weapons, a bastard sword, and got down to business.

There shouldn't have been this many Grimm here. These woods had been my stomping grounds for the past couple weeks and I'd seen no signs of any packs this big. The largest I'd seen had been less than half the size of this one, and that had been at night when Grimm are most active. I honestly had no idea how I'd missed this pack. They should have been drawn to me when I was down here hunting, and yet they hadn't been; you can tell because they're still alive. The numbers the Grimm were showing today seemed to have come out of no where.

I hacked down the minor Grimm effortlessly, wielding my blade with both hands, sending it looping through deceptively swift arcs that would have seemed sluggish to onlookers. I split the beowolves like firewood, easily dividing their bodies with my powerful swings. The occasional claw raked along my armor as I slew them, but I don't wear my armor as a fashion statement. I honestly doubted that a beowolf could have gotten through at all, even if I'd held still and let it hit me until it died from exhaustion. Not that I would ever do something that stupid.

I lunged forward with the power of one leg, catching all of weight on my second, to extend my body in a fencing thrust. My blade transfixed the last of the beowolf menacing me, only to find out that there had been another, using it's companion as cover to advance on me unseen. It leapt over it's comrade and dived at the only unarmored portion of my body: my head.

Options flashed through my head while the Grimm hurtled at it. My blade was lodged into the chest of that last beowolf and I was into too poor of a position to check it's advance with another. So realistically my first option was to stand and take a beating.

My aura levels are large enough that my dad called them 'freakishly massive' (tact wasn't his strong point either) and they've only grown since he's passed away. So I could take a hit. Even the most vulnerable parts of my body, like my unarmored head, could easily take a few hits from a beowolf without taking any damage. On the other hand I might get unlucky and catch a claw with my eyes, losing them or getting my brain punctured if the beast hit them with the power of it's lunge behind it. So, despite being told how hard my head is on so many occasions, that didn't seem like an attractive option.

Next, I could turn to the side and let it bypass me entirely. I was quick enough to do it, and normally I would have... Except for the fact that it might hit Pyrrha. Her completely awesome dust trick _might_ let her avoid it, but it also might not, so yeah, no way in hell was that going to happen. The only was _anything_ was getting a shot at my friend's back was over my corpse.

So I went with option three. My aura flared for a tiny moment as I started boosting. Muscles in my arm and back tore in a familiar crescendo of pain, and despite my poor positioning for it, I back handed the beast. Raw power let me bull my way through successfully, leaving the beowolf sprawling on the ground with an imprint of my gauntlet an inch deep in it's skull.

My body started knitting back together while I turned away from the stacks of rapidly decaying Grimm bodies to see how Pyrhha was doing. She was facing down a rush of six beowolves. She danced among them, her xiphos flitting around her to slash major blood vessels as opposed to simply hacking through them entirely as I had. It took her a few seconds to leave them on the ground in bloody heaps. I quickly realized two things watching her.

First physically speaking I was superior to Pyrrha. By a pretty good margin too. I could tell the amount of power she put into her swings from the effects they had on the Grimm she struck, and that I was quite a bit stronger than she was. I also had a significant few inches on her in reach even before we started calculating in our respective weapons. And while she was faster on her feet than I was, it was largely due to the fact that I was in much more cumbersome armor. If we'd been equipped similarly I probably would have had the edge there too, though it was hard to tell. At the very least we'd have been equally matched on that last count.

Second, despite the difference in our physical abilities, if I fought Pyrrha head to head I'd lose. Badly. Where I was strong, she was strong and _precise_. Where I was fast, she was fast and _efficient_. I felt pride shoot through that someone like her, kind and strong and loyal had _chosen_ to be my partner. But my pride in her was mixed with shame for myself. Her form was magnificent, and, frankly, it so badly outclassed me it was humiliating.

I didn't have to like it, but that was the truth and I would accept it. It wouldn't do to force her to carry me through our partnership, so I'd just have to put in more time training and catch up. There had to be some way to work on my technique in this school. I mentally started rearranging my daily schedule as Pyrrha turned towards me after finishing off the last of her opponents.

Her eyes widened once she did so. "Jaune, duck!"

I dropped to a single knee without hesitation, hearing heavy foot falls approaching me from behind. I'd been too careless.

Face intent, Pyrrha spun her sword to her shoulder, and while in transit it shifted into a rifle. She fired five times. The first shot cracked through the air and the bestial scream of a Grimm (an ursa major if I had to guess from the sound alone) followed. It's roar faded into a gurgle after the third shot, and after the fifth I merely heard the meaty thud of a heavy body hitting the ground. She lowered her weapon after that, so the crisis was presumably averted.

I stood back up and glanced over my shoulder. I was greeted by the sight of a decaying ursa major. So I was right on the type. Ursa major are massive bulks, covered in plates of white bone with red markings running over them. Just like the bears that the monsters parodied, their paws were as good for crushing their prey as they were for slashing them. This particular specimen had a single over large hole punched through the bone plate on it's neck. Wow. She's a damn good shot.

"Thanks Pyr. I should have just kept my eyes on my own sector, but I thought you could use some help." I ran my hand through my hair, abashed. "Seems it was the other way around huh?"

She smiled at me. "I can not blame you for having the same thought I did."

"A good thing you did too." As I was looking towards her I saw the pair of common ursa, much like the one that Pyrrha had just slain, but smaller and with far less armored bone plates, emerge from the forest line behind her. They bulldozed their way past the brush to come straight for us. Where the hell are all these Grimm coming from? "Pyrrha, duck!"

She dropped to a knee much as I had earlier while I flicked my hand in one of the familiar gestures I used when I forged and shot projectiles: my upper arm coming straight from my shoulder with my forearm forming a ninety degree angle with it and my fingers extended toward the sky. I brought my hand down in a downward slashing gesture. Technically it was just theatrics, the gesture was unnecessary, but it helped me focus when making so many weapons at a time. And now it sent a half a dozen throwing spikes, often called bo shuriken back in menagerie, each one around four inches long and half an inch thick, zipping at each ursa.

Before I'd came to beacon I would've used spears probably, but I found something out from a sci-fi novel I'd picked up from the library: small objects moving fast punch holes through big objects moving slowly. Some testing at Beacon's firing range let me find out that whenever I shot the things I'd forged they went out with the same amount of force behind them. Too large and the projectiles would simply take more aura to make, move more slowly, and have a shorter range. Too small and they would just punch long narrow holes in what I'd hit, possibly doing too little damage to put it down. It had taken a little experimentation to find out what size gave me the most bang for my buck, but I'd found it. And it proved it's worth now.

The spikes shot into the ursa and tore their way deep into them, leaving six gaping holes in both of their torsos. I probably didn't need six for each ursa, but I'd rather not leave anything to chance. I peered at their dissolving corpses with satisfaction. It had been only a couple of weeks since I'd arrived at Beacon, I hadn't taken a single class yet, but I'd still managed to tighten my game a little bit.

My partner more or less repeated the same thing I did: she glanced over her shoulder at the Grimm I'd killed, before looking back at me. I offered her a small smile, pleased I'd managed to repay her so quickly.

"I'm sorry! I should have been paying more attention." She told me.

"Relax." I said. "I told you I had your back didn't I? That offer doesn't have an expiration date Pyr. Besides, I did the exact same thing earlier."

She flushed a little, and returned my smile. "Thank you Jaune, it's nice to know someone is watching out for me."

The same unfamiliar warmth from yesterday settled into my chest at her words. Gratitude was nice, but it was better still to be relied on, trusted. "It's nothing." I said.

Pyrrha continued while I forced myself to refocus on the here and now. Lost concentration had already nearly burnt us both today, and we didn't need anymore mishaps. "My words have no expiration date either, Jaune. I will watch over you as you do me."

She'd proved that already. "It's promise then, partner. Let's get moving before anymore Grimm pop up. Follow me, I know this place pretty well."

"Lead on."

I turned and grabbed my sword off of the ground as the beowolf had already finished decomposing and we started our way towards the ruins.

As we started on our way another Grimm, a boarbatusk, burst out of the brush proceeded only by the sound of it's trotters gouging the earth. Borbatusks are ugly low slung porcine creatures, with large tusks made from white Grimm bone. The same bone covered their faces, backs, and flanks, though it was thinner on their sides.

It rushed at me as we entered the tree line, trying to gore me with it's tusks. I was somewhat startled by the attack I hadn't seen coming, but this was hardly my first surprise attack, and my reflexes served me well. I sprang to the side, out of the reach of it's tusks and swung my sword low, attacking one of the monster's weaknesses: it's hind trotter.

The placement of my strike wasn't perfect, but it was good enough. Instead of of hitting it right where the beast's foot joined it's leg, my blow went high striking it's leg proper. That being said, with all the weight of it's charge and all the strength of my left arm, core, and shoulders behind my blade it didn't matter. It's hind leg on it's right side went spinning through the air, spraying blood the whole way.

Pyrrha quickly kicked it over and thrust her- short spear? I guess that her weapon has three forms instead of the usual two: xiphos, rifle, and javelin.- into another of the boarbatusk's weaknesses: it's unarmored belly.

"...Good work, let's keep moving." I said. Pyrrha nodded and we continued on our way.

It wasn't long before we had to fight more Grimm.

We managed to kill them all as well, but... where the hell had all these Grimm come from? There was literally no possible way I had missed this many Grimm. They had to have come here in the last few days when I'd been resting up for the test, but that shouldn't have been possible either, not in so short a time span. And they shouldn't have managed to sneak such numbers by whatever watchers Vale would have so close to one of it's one of it's major cities.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. My instincts, which had been honed sharper than any razor's edge through years and years of nigh constant danger, whispered two words to me: _something's wrong_.

{Glynda Goodwitch}

"Something's wrong." I said watching our hopeful students battle against colossal numbers of Grimm. "There shouldn't be so many Grimm. Or even a tenth so many."

"No, there shouldn't be." Ozpin agreed.

"This had better not be one of your games. I'm calling in our staff and every hunting resource we have. Our students can't possibly withstand those numbers."

"It's not something I'd planned. You know I wouldn't endanger our students so recklessly. I'll coordinate our staff, and start calling in Vale's resources. Emphasizing the incursion's danger to the city should make them mobilize very quickly indeed. You head down and start rescue operations. I'll stay in touch. Good hunting." Whatever else I say about Ozpin, he possessed one of the greatest tactical minds in Vale, and he wasn't a bad man. Just a pain in my neck.

"Understood. Good hunting." He nodded, and started speaking into his scroll as he launched me off the cliff. I lifted my weapon and readied myself for combat.

{Jaune Ebner}

We'd waded though the forest cutting down Grimm after Grimm. Finally we managed to break out of the woods, sighting the gray stone of the ruins across a wide swift flowing river, and mercifully free of Grimm, but yet another massive pack of beowolves were hot on our tails.

My voice came out smooth and strong as we pounded our way over the grass and flowers towards the river. "Let's put the river at our backs. I'll lay down some fire, you focus on the ones who get too close and make sure nothing sneaks up on us through the river." In the forest ranged combat hadn't been an option with all the trees in the way, but in this clearing it would be.

"Agreed." I'd found out that though Pyrrha was more skilled than me in melee, the gap between our ranged accuracy was very small. And then there was the fact that my semblance's ability to lay down ranged attacks out stripped her rifle's ability by orders of magnitude. And if I'd been using a bow I doubt you would have been able to tell the difference between our skill levels at all.

Once we got with in ten or so feet of the river I turned around, my armored feet throwing up little sprays of earth as I skidded to a halt. Cleaning my armor after all this was going to suck.

I stood still, and stuck my sword into the ground before me, resting my both hands upon it's pommel like I might have a cane. I began focusing on my semblance. The world narrowed down to metal spikes and the trajectories they would need to take to kill the dozens of Grimm rushing my partner and I.

My semblance took a more effort than simply pulling a trigger, but it had quite a few advantages over guns. Firearms had to put up with things like recoil and could only aim at one place at a time. I didn't have those limitations. I put all of my concentration into creating and firing as many spikes as possible, so I couldn't defend myself or even move, but with someone as reliable as Pyrrha as my partner I didn't have to worry about that. The Grimm ran across the forty yards of open terrain between us and the forest, and I met them with a withering storm of metal.

None of them made it.

The projectiles punched holes through the charging Grimm, and frequently through whatever happened to behind them whether that was a tree or another beowolf. It took a handful of seconds to slaughter the lot, leaving nothing but smoking corpses and a patch of extremely chewed up woodland.

I might have looked out across the plain of quickly dissolving offal with something akin to satisfaction if I hadn't been too busy popping open one of the compartments on my bandoleer and quickly downing a vial of Lys' Tears. As always it slid down my throat leaving behind an incredibly bitter aftertaste.

By the gods, I hadn't been expecting anywhere near this level of resistance, and was now very glad that I'd brought the vials with me, though I had thought I wouldn't need any when I packed them. I glanced at Pyrrha as I reclaimed my sword, who was in much the same shape physically as I was, which was to say exhausted from running around fighting for the last few hours, though she hadn't used nearly as much aura as I had. She was also sweating heavily which surprised me; controlling my body's temperature with my aura was as automatic as breathing. Though I guess I should have expected it since she was so cold last night. She must have focused on practical skills instead of whatever she could drill without getting killed like I had.

Pyrrha spoke after a moment. "Are you alright Jaune?"

"Yeah." I said. "You?"

"I am well."

"I'm glad. Now lets get this over with."

"Initiation's charm is starting to wear a little thin." She replied wearily.

I looked at the river. Twenty-ish feet. No problem. "I guess I should go first then."

Pyrrha looked at me curiously. "What do you mean?"

I nodded at the river. She looked at me curiously. "How are you going to cross in that armor?"

"Like this." I backed up a couple feet for a running start and leaped across the swift running water, landing with a good fifteen or twenty feet of extra clearance. Slide, letting hunters look down upon petty things like gravity with scorn for the last two thousand years.

I took a quick glance over my shoulder to Pyrrha, and seeing her look at me with pride made all of the pains we'd gone through the forest worth it. It would have confused me, had I not been finding myself proud of her own accomplishments. But I quickly turned to look back ahead.

"Jaune, why do you keep looking away from me?" She asked from behind me. It seems Pyrrha didn't overshoot as much as I had, as efficient in her jump as she was in combat.

"I can't exactly watch you jump over can I? You're wearing a skirt after all." I rolled one of my shoulders, uncomfortable.

"I wear a pair of shorts underneath it Jaune, as is standard practice for huntresses who wear skirts. At least now I know you won't try anything untoward with my poor, delicate self." I could hear the amusement in her voice, and I flushed a bit before rolling my eyes.

"Please excuse me for not looking up women's skirts to find out standard protocol then." I said dryly.

"You have no need for an excuse. I find your old fashioned sense of courtesy quite charming actually."

I looked at her suspiciously for a few moments, looking for signs of mockery, but I found none in her dazzling smile. So I simply gave up. "So being an unrepentant pervert is the norm now? What's wrong with kids these days? Back in _my_ time such behavior wouldn't have been tolerated. " I sniffed haughtily, joking with her.

She nodded, still smiling. "Not all old traditions are bad, Jaune."

I frowned. "Is the way I behave really that weird? I thought I was normal, more or less."

"I would say commendable rather than weird, but chivalry is rather uncommon in this day and age. I just wanted to thank you for the consideration."

"I... Yeah. Don't worry about it. It was nothing. Your manners are better than mine anyway, so let's grab a relic and get going." I rubbed my shoulder with my free hand, embarrassed for some reason, but not nearly enough to do the maneuver with the hand that gripped my sword. Jamming a few feet of steel in my ear would make a great distraction, but I doubt I'd be able to live that one down... Spirits, my taste for black humor and Yang's horrible, horrible puns are fusing into something even more terrible.

We marched over to what looked like a ruined temple, it's roof torn away leaving it's interior full of daises open to the sky. Each dais held a chess piece in a variety of colors: white, black, blue, red, gold and green, and each color having two of each piece save for the king, queen, and pawn which were conspicuously absent. All of the relics still rested atop their alters; we were the first ones here.

"These are probably the relics then. Do you have a preference Jaune?" She asked me.

"Whatever you like, Pyr." I told her as I kept an eye out for more Grimm. These last few minuets had been the longest stretch of time we'd had without any monsters crashing our party.

"How about... a white knight piece? " She mused aloud. "It is a pity they don't have a gray set..."

I let out an amused snort. "Seriously?"

"It seems a fine way to choose which we take with us." She said a trifle defensively.

I lifted my empty hand in a placating gesture, palm facing her. "Alright then, Princess Charming. If you like it, then it's fine by me. Let's get moving again; I'm looking forward to a cold drink when we get back."

"I'm looking forward to a hot shower myself." She replied, stowing away the knight piece and moving to join me again.

"After the day we've had, we could both probably use one."

"...You're not sweating at all Jaune."

I puffed up a little with pride. Controlling my temperature in today's heat, especially while fighting, wasn't exactly easy. Then you add in my armor and heavy clothing and I should be broiling. It was no mean feat to keep myself from sweating in all that. "Nope."

"How," she began, pouting rather cutely, before the roar of some Grimm, much larger than anything we'd run into today echoed around us. That was bad. What was even more alarming was the answering roars, just as loud. I silently drank four more vials of Lys' Tears in preparation.

Things had just gotten worse. A lot worse.

 **Post Story Notes:**

And we finally got to the real reason Ozpin forced Jaune to join his academy. Even without getting into any of the political importance he had, Jaune's foster father was kind of a big deal. He owned many leather bound books and his home smelled of rich mahogany.

So, all those times I mentioned how buff Jaune was. Did any of you think 'hah, Cris is just making him sexier'? It's okay if you did, it's what I would have thought too. Foreshadowing is my favorite writing tool.

And Jaune's Semblance is great for mulching lesser Grimm. I wanted the minor upgrade to show that he had holes in his education, some of which are small things that could have been easily pointed out if he'd had a mentor teaching him. Some are rather larger and will not be so easily or quickly fixed. I hope it didn't come off as too cheesy.

I always saw Goodwitch as a strict responsible parent to her students who was a hard ass because she really cared for her charges. Hopefully that came across.

I don't think it'll ever come up in story why Ozpin was waiting in Jaune's home. So I'll just tell you now: it was because he couldn't get in contact with him. Faunus are rather leery of humans, so his messages got 'lost' long before they made it to Jaune. Ozpin thinks Jaune ignored them. He eventually bribed the company responsible for scroll networks in Menagerie into giving him Jaune's location, and said 'I'd like to see the little bastard ignore me now.' as he broke into his literal man-cave.

Next chapter will have some actual fight scenes against actual threats instead of new born baby mook Grimm. Right after I study up on fight scenes so it doesn't suck.


	6. Q&A One

Sorry it's been such a long time, and sorry this isn't an update.

Since you've last heard from me I've had three members of my family (as of last week) end up in an ICU (they're okay for the most part now, but still need a lot help) lost my house, and had my hard drive (which had had all my notes and my plot outline on it) fry. That took up pretty much all of my time and energy. I was also deeply disappointed with the quality V3's writing, which wrecked my motivation. I haven't abandoned this story, but updates are going to be very infrequent due to the reasons listed above.

I've also noticed a couple glaring mistakes I've made in the previous chapters, and am going to have to rewrite them. I'm also going to change a few small details that I think will be an improvement.

Now I'd like to ask you all a small favor. There's a poll up on my profile which I'd really like you all to vote on. It's about how Jaune's going to fight in the reboot.

I'm also going to be changing Jaune's semblance. It has too much overlap with Cinder's and Velvet's, took too much attention from the techniques papa Ebner taught him, and it was kind of OP. Not in battle, but outside of it. I'm thinking of replacing it with light, or maybe some kind of martyrdom based thing, but if you have something you think would be cooler then send me a PM or leave me a review. I reserve the right to ban anything too powerful, weak, or thematically inappropriate.

Now for a brief round of Q&A.

Q: Details of the AU?

A:Mostly it's in how things are run. The four Kingdoms are exactly that: kingdoms. They're all a little different, but they all have royalty. In Mistral for example, the monarch and nobility are only for show and are mostly ruled by a republic, while the monarch of Vacuo rules with an iron fist. Atlas has most of it's power in the hands of the nobility. Vale has a close split of power between the Nobility and Royalty whith the commons trailing behind though they are still quite significant.

Menagerie is a loose confederation of noble clans, and are really independent. They don't function well together and sometimes fight.

The white fang is also quite fractious, though far less so than Menagerie. It's open secret the white fang sends their troops there to train by killing Grimm, which most of the clans are happy to accept help with. Neither Menagerie nor the kingdoms can afford another costly war, so they nobody makes too much of an issue over it.

The cultures of the five major countries are all very different as well.

Most people in power are highly competent, or else they'd get taken down and replaced by someone who is. So don't go expecting anybody to have an easy ride defeating or displacing them.

The other large difference is the only supernatural abilities are aura and dust. That means no maidens, wizards, or whatever the 'silver eyes' are. Both dust and aura are going to work a bit differently than in cannon as well.

People's back stories are going to be different. A lot of them. Some differences are small, others are very large like Jaune's, or moderately different like Pyrrha's.

In addition a few people's semblances are also going to change, though they'll be very similar to their cannon counter part's, with the exception of Jaune.

Q: Jaune's pairing?

A: I'm not a hundred percent sure. Right now I'm leaning towards Pyrrha/Jaune, partly because of the accidental vibes I put in chapter four, but mostly because of a couple of fics that set up Jaune with another character by sending Pyrrha through hell and then blaming it on her somehow, all of which upset me. I do however realize I'm upset, and am going to wait until I cool down a bit before making a final decision. Actual romance is a little ways off anyway, so I have time. I also rather like Jaune/Yang, Ruby, or Blake for this story, though Blake is marginally less likely than the other two. There's going to be some tension between her and Jaune, and not of the romantic kind. Weiss/Jaune is more unlikely still. They're going to have a major personality clash for a long time. I doubt I'll go for a pairing outside of the main cast, like Arslan or Coco.

I don't think I can write a dramatic multiship well, and this isn't a comedy fic. I am in fact beginning to think this story was too ambitious for a first try, even without trying to put that in. Sorry.

Q: What about the other pairings? White Rose, Bumblebee, Black Sun, etc.

A:There is going to be at least a few pairings outside of Jaune's. Not many though, as I'm not a fan spare pairings.

As for LGBT parings in general? I know that they're very popular in this fandom, but I'm assuming that numbers of LGBT characters in remnant are similar to earth's, so they're in the minority.

Q:Smut?

A: I wasn't planning on it. But before you start clamoring for it, realize that if it does happen it's going to be an awkward embrace between two virgins.

Q: Pyrrha seems a little over protective.

A: That's on purpose. See that little bit of backstory I put in chapter four? About how pretty much everyone she was close to is dead? I figure that would make one a wee bit more protective of those they'd bonded with.

Q: Dietrich Ebner seems like a mary sue to me.

A: You could argue that. He was the best at one thing only though: personal combat. He was however, very good at several other things including tactics, strategy, and survival. Basically if it had to do with war or being a crazy martial arts hermit, he had at least a good idea of how to get it done. And he was good at them because he practiced them for a long time. He wasn't much good at things outside of that on the other hand, including being a dad, though he tried hard at some of them.

Q:How did he win if he wasn't an amazing leader?

A:He was very lucky that Lagune was an incompetent general to be honest. And even if he wasn't a genius he _was_ still pretty damn good.

He also wasn't anything close infallible morally speaking. Most of Menagerie's citizens think of him very much like King Arthur, but most of the rest of the world think he's more similar tp Genghis Khan, and for good reason. He was a very ruthless warrior, but he was fighting against a superior enemy to prevent genocide, so opinions are mixed. In 'verse at least.

Q:What about the Arcs?

A: They exist, and they're an important family. In societies which require warriors to survive against the Grimm, war heroes tend to be pretty important people after all.

That's all for now. Please take a look at that poll and send me any ideas you might have for semblances! Till next time.

Edit: 6/9

Polls over, and Jaune's going to fight like a knight. I really thought this would be between that and the samurai gear, but I was wrong. Jaune was one vote away from being a xia, but thirteen away from being a bushi.


End file.
